The law-enforcement agencies have recovered 1,6425 bovines being exported illegally from Rajasthan during the past three years. As many as 1,113 cases have been filed, 2,198 cow smugglers arrested and 1,051 vehicles were seized in the police action.
This report was shared by the government three months ago during budget session in state assembly. As per the report, cases of cow smuggling are rampant in Alwar and Bharatpur. The police have opened fired on the cow smugglers 33 times - 17 in Alwar and 16 in Bharatpur.
Alwar, bordering Haryana, has become a hot bed for cow smuggling. In one of the police encounters, one cow smuggler was killed, three injured while seven police personnel sustained injuries, the report says. Pehlu Khan, an alleged cow smuggler, was killed in exchange of fire with police in Alwar in July last year which gripped attention nationally due to contradictory reports over his involvement in smuggling. The government report does name Pahlu Khan as a cow smuggler, though. In Alwar also, Umar, a Meo, was allegedly lynched by the cow vigilantes, in November last year. The latest case which shows confrontation between cow vigilantes and cow smuggler is of Akbar, who was allegedly lynched by a mob in Alwar’s Ramgarh. The police role in his death is being investigated as well.
The report adds that police have registered 1,131 FIRs against the people exporting bovines illegally, of which challans were produced in 931 and FAR put in 122 while 60 cases are still pending. Alwar, Bharatpur and Udaipur top the list where cases of cow smuggling reported were highest in the last three years.
Where Dists Stand
Cow smuggling cases in single digit were reported in Karauli, Sikar, Hanumangarh, Chittorgarh, Tonk, Jhalawar, Jhunjhunu, Pratapgarh, Baran, Bikaner and Bhilwara. Jaipur’s rural areas can be called sensitive with 51 cases while 22 cases were filed in urban boundaries.
