Man involved in cow slaughter arrested after encounter with police in Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi

A man who was caught red-handed slaughtering a cow was arrested here following an encounter with police, an official said on Friday.

The accused, Dilshad, suffered a bullet injury in his leg, they said.

Police said they had been receiving information for a few days that cow slaughter was going on in Samda village under the Manjhanpur police station area.

Following a tip-off, a police team reached the village on Thursday night and found two men slaughtering a cow in a field, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Samar Bahadur Singh said.

"As police laid siege to the field, the accused persons opened fire. In retaliatory firing by the police team, Dilshad suffered an injury in his leg while his accomplice managed to escape. Dilshad has been admitted to the district hospital," he said.

"Equipment used for slaughtering cows and about 60 kilograms of meat was recovered from the field. Samples of the meat have been sent for examination to ascertain if it is beef," he said.

The ASP said a police team has been formed to arrest Dilshad's accomplice who is on the run.