Valsad police on Sunday arrested a scrap dealer on charges of cattle theft ahead of Bakri Eid festival in Dhimsa Kakaria village of Umargam taluka after receiving information from a cow protector group, Agniveer Gau Seva Dal.
Arrested man Zakir Sheikh was booked under various sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act after two adult cows and six small cows were found tied up in a small room in his house. Shaikh told the police that he used to keep cows as a hobby. Members of the Vigilance Group accompanied the police on their visit to Sheikh’s house.
In another incident on Sunday, Umargam police and Agniveer Gau Seva Dal allegedly chased a car laden with cattle. The occupants abandoned their vehicle near Dhimsa Kakaria village and fled to the nearby forest.
The police have seized the car and registered a case against the driver of the car and others under various sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
In the third such incident on Sunday, police allegedly chased a car full of cattle from Bhilad village in Umargam taluka. The driver, who drove the vehicle to Maharashtra’s Talsari district, fled the spot leaving behind a vehicle laden with two cows. Umargam police contacted Talasari police and handed over the seized cattle and car to them. Talasari police have registered a case against the car drivers under various sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act in this regard.
These arrests and seizures happen when Bakri Eid is just a few days away. Last week, police set up 17 outposts in Valsad and started a strict vigil to prevent incidents of cattle theft by various gangs operating out of Maharashtra as the festival approaches.
Umargam shares its border with Palghar district of Maharashtra. Valsad district is witnessing incidents of cattle theft by organized cattle theft gangs from Bhiwandi in Thane district.
The cattle seized from Sheikh’s house and from the abandoned vehicle have been sent to Panjrapole run by a private trust in Umargam.
The cow vigilante group, Agniveer Gau Seva Dal, which has been providing police information with them during the alleged cattle theft and raids and arrests, claims that gangs operating out of Maharashtra’s Bhiwandi have been involved in cattle theft in the area for a long time.
Agniveer Gau Seva Dal of Valsad Vice President Umesh Rajpurohit said, “For a long time, professional gangs from Bhiwandi are involved in cattle theft from Umargam taluka. They use two or three cars for patrol and one car is used for keeping cattle. Their patrol cars first circle the road and identify the cattle, later they turn around to find the police or cow vigilantes in the nearby area and later steal the cattle. They also carry stones in patrol cars like when we chase them in vehicles they throw stones at us or at our vehicles to escape. ,
talking Indian Express Valsad district superintendent of police Rajdeep Singh Jala said, “We have so far arrested around five notorious cattle theft gangs from Bhiwandi in Maharashtra for their involvement in cattle theft in Valsad in the last six months. There are many other gangs active in Bhiwandi. The cars they used are stolen. They fix the duplicate number plate of Maharashtra and enter the Gujarat border and put the duplicate number plate of Gujarat registration.
“They identify cattle grazing along the road or in the fields. The gang members give bread mixed with some chemicals to the cows and later give injections to make them unconscious. Later they pick up the cows in the car and run away. The gang sells the stolen cows to butchers in Maharashtra,” he said.