Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 5

In a road mishap which claimed lives of four camels in Tarn Taran, the police have failed to take any action in this regard.

An NGO, Anti-Crime and Animal Protection Association, has urged the DGP of Punjab police and the Tarn Taran SSP to take action against the truck driver and hold a probe.

The camels had sustained serious injuries when the vehicle in which they were being ferried collided head on with another truck on the Amritsar-Bathinda highway on July 2.

Officials of the Animal Husbandry have suspected that it might a case of camel trafficking from Rajasthan to Jammu and Kashmir.

The incident has also caught the eye of the Ministry of Fisheries, and Animal Husbandry and Dairy, which has asked the Tarn Taran police for appropriate action at the earliest.

Dr Rohan Mehra, president of the association, said they had received information that two camels were injured after a truck collided with the vehicle in which the camels were being ferried. One camel had died on the spot while another was critically injured. When association members went to the spot, they spotted five camels, he added.

Mehra said there was no facility in Tarn Taran for the treatment of the camels and thus, they were handed over them to the NGO after giving first aid. The camels were treated at Khalsa College Veterinary Hospital, from where they were shifted to SPCA after hours-long treatment.

Two camels later succumbed at Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). Only one was survived, which was handed over to a dera head on their request.

Dr Harinderpal Singh Chandi, deputy director, Animal Husbandry, said the caretaker of the camels refused to give his address and said the camels were in the area for grazing. “This is a hardly believable story. It appears that camels were were being smuggled to Jammu for slaughtering but it is for the police to investigate.”