UP: Cow vigilante booked for cattle slaughter; 3 held in police encounter

Bareilly : The district head of a cow vigilante group here has been booked for alleged involvement in cow slaughter, police said on Saturday.

The matter came to light after the police arrested three alleged cow smugglers following an encounter here on Friday night. Rahul Singh, president of Gauraksha Karni Sena's Bareilly unit, was found present with them, they added.

Singh, along with four others, was allegedly slaughtering cows near the Devaraniya river in Bhojipura here when the police laid siege of the area, Circle Officer Harsh Modi said.

However, the accused refused to surrender and opened fire on the police team, he said.

The police fired in retaliation and nabbed three persons -- Mohammad Saeed Khan, Devendra Kumar and Akram -- after the encounter, Modi said.

Singh and another person managed to flee and efforts are on to arrest them, he added.

The equipment used for cow slaughter and a tempo was seized from the arrested trio, the CO said.

An FIR was registered against the five persons, including Singh, at the Bhojipura police station here on Saturday under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Mukesh Chandra Mishra said.