Police attacked while foiling cow slaughter bid in Palghar; three held

An officer said that the accused allegedly pelted stones at the police during a chase, and one of them attempted to attack a cop with a sickle.

Palghar: A group of people allegedly attacked a police team while it was foiling an attempt to transport cows for slaughter in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred at Dharanpada in Jawhar in the wee hours of Monday, District Superintendent of Police Balasaheb Patil said.

A case has been registered against seven people under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, he said.

Three accused were arrested, and a search has been launched for the rest, the official said.

A patrolling team of the police received information that cows were going to be loaded into a truck and taken for slaughter from an orchard in the area, he said.

The team searched the area and found the accused hiding in a hillock, the official said.

The accused allegedly pelted stones at the police during a chase, and one of them attempted to attack a cop with a sickle, he said.

The team managed to apprehend Soheb Khan Khalil Khan (26) and Sheikh Shabir Sheikh (22), both residents of Malegaon in Nashik, and Sumit Lazarus Kharat (32) of Ahmednagar district, the official said.

The accused said they were taking the cows to Malegaon for slaughter for Eid-ul-Azha, he said.

Six cows and five calves were recovered from the accused and sent to a cattle shelter, he said.