An alleged cow smuggler was killed during an encounter with the police in Rajasthan’s Alwar district on Thursday, 7 December.
An Indian Express report quoted Alwar’s Superintendent of Police as saying:
Around 1.30-2 am on Thursday, Sigma police unit of Aravali Vihar police station saw cows being loaded on to a truck and informed the control room, describing the vehicle. When the police approached the men, they escaped, leaving some cows behind.
The alleged smugglers, a group of five to six men, opened fire and drove through the barricades set up by the police.
The police then retaliated and gunned down one person while the others managed to flee from the spot.
The deceased has been identified as 23-year-old Talim, a resident of Nuh in Haryana.
The IE report said that around five cows were found in a Tata truck, but one succumbed to bullet injuries. They also recovered a pistol and two live cartridges.
Earlier this year in April, Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer from Haryana was lynched by a mob of self-proclaimed cow vigilantes in Alwar and in November, Umar Khan's dismembered body was found on the railway tracks near Govindgarh.
(Breathe In, Breathe Out: Are you finding it tough to breathe polluted air? Join hands with FIT to find #PollutionKaSolution. Send in your suggestions to fit@thequint.com or WhatsApp @ +919999008335)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)