SUV fitted with police stickers, siren used to smuggle cattle, seized - Hindustan Times
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SUV fitted with police stickers, siren used to smuggle cattle, seized

By, Gurugram
May 30, 2023 12:23 AM IST

Police seized a modified Scorpio SUV allegedly being used to smuggle cattle on a highway in India. The vehicle was fitted with police stickers, a siren, anti-collision guards, dark tinted glass and bore a fake registration number. The five suspects fled on foot after abandoning the vehicle, allegedly firing at police and cow protection activists. The SUV had heavy-duty anti-collision guards on both ends, probably to prevent another vehicle pushing it off the road during a high-speed chase. The four cows were sent to a shelter. An investigation is ongoing to identify the suspects and arrest them.

Police on Monday seized a specially modified Scorpio SUV fixed with police stickers, siren and heavy duty anti-collision guards in the front and rear, which was allegedly being used to smuggle cattle on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway.

Gurugram, India-May 29, 2023: Gurugram Police seized an especially modified Scorpio fixed with “Police” logo, siren and guards of heavy iron sheet stuffed with four tied cows from KMP Expressway on Tuesday which were allegedly being smuggled to Nuh for slaughtering after being stolen from Sohna, in Gurugram, India, on Monday, 29 May 2023. (Photo by Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)(Pic to go with Debashish Karmakar's story)
Gurugram, India-May 29, 2023: Gurugram Police seized an especially modified Scorpio fixed with “Police” logo, siren and guards of heavy iron sheet stuffed with four tied cows from KMP Expressway on Tuesday which were allegedly being smuggled to Nuh for slaughtering after being stolen from Sohna, in Gurugram, India, on Monday, 29 May 2023. (Photo by Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)(Pic to go with Debashish Karmakar's story)

Police said that the black SUV was going towards Alwar in Rajasthan from Sampla in Rohtak. The vehicle was also fitted with dark tinted glasses and bore a fake registration number of Delhi, they said.

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Police said five suspected cattle rustlers were in the vehicle that came from Rajasthan to Sampla, from where they picked up four stray cows and loaded them into the rear of the SUV after tying up the animals’ jaws and limbs.

Investigators said the suspects were chased for at least 10km by a team from the cow protection group of Gurugram police as well as cow vigilantes from Rewari. On finding no way to escape, the rustlers allegedly abandoned the SUV on a flyover near Patli and fled, said police.

They said the suspects fired at least five to six rounds on the teams during the chase and later while fleeing on foot after abandoning the SUV.

Investigators said the tyres of the SUV had exploded and one of the wheels had come off when the suspects tried to drive over the median of the expressway in a desperate bid to change lanes and escape their chasers.

A senior police officer said an inspection of the SUV showed that the vehicle sported police stickers on the rear windshield besides a police siren inside the vehicle.

“Two empty cartridges fired by the suspects were found on the dashboard. But the most interesting thing was that the SUV had heavy duty anti-collision guards on both ends which seems to have been specially manufactured using thick iron sheets and then wielded to the chassis,” he said.

The officer said these guards were probably there to prevent another vehicle from ramming the SUV or pushing it off the road during a high-speed chase.

Investigators said the four injured cows were shifted to a shelter in Farrukhnagar and the SUV has been seized.

Police did not respond to queries of how vigilantes came to be chasing the SUV alongside the police, when the Haryana government had issued orders this April that such vigilantes can only pass on the information about cattle rustlers to police and not act on them.

On a complaint by a vigilante named Tinku (single name only), an FIR against the suspects was registered under sections 307 (attempt to murder), Arms Act and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act at the Farrukhnagar police station on Monday, said police.

Inspector Jitender Singh, station house officer (SHO) of Farrukhnagar police station, said they will extract the engine and chassis to ascertain the actual registration number of the vehicle. “Investigation is on to ascertain the identities of the suspects and arrest them,” he said.

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