Six held in Adilabad for cattle smuggling and attack on toll plaza staff
Neradigonda police arrest six in cattle smuggling ring, rescue 44 cattle; accused had rammed toll gate on Sept 1.
In a coordinated operation against cattle smuggling, Neradigonda police in Adilabad district arrested six members of an inter-State gang on Friday. The arrests came after a tip-off and a vehicle check near Kuntala village, where four suspects were apprehended in the early hours. Two more were later picked up from Adilabad town.
The accused are linked to an incident on September 1, when they allegedly tried to run over toll plaza staff at Rolmamda in Neradigonda mandal. The staff had attempted to stop their speeding vehicles, but the gang forced their way through the toll gate and escaped in a container lorry and another vehicle.
During the operation, police rescued 44 cattle, including bulls and cows, from the gang's possession. However, three of the animals were found dead inside the container lorry. A small quantity of ganja was also seized from one of the accused.
The arrested persons were identified as Md. Shafi Mudassir (31) and Gopal Singh Shekhawat (32) of Adilabad, Firdous Baig (38), Hyder Ali (21) and Bheemrao Sevatkar (22) of Nagpur, and Sandeep Vittal (35) of Yavatmal in Maharashtra.
Police said the gang ran an organised cattle smuggling racket, using a car as a pilot vehicle to scout the highway ahead of the container lorry and evade police checks. Further investigation is underway.