Valsad police in Gujarat Thursday night caught a container truck with 46 dead cattle inside with no water, fodder or ventilation facilities, officers said, adding that the driver of the vehicle fled. The police have registered a case against the owner of the cattle, who is a resident of Rajasthan.
According to the police, GST official Ankit Kikani and other staffers, along with the police, were checking vehicles on the Sutharpada-Nashik road in Valsad’s Kaprada taluka on Thursday night when they asked container truck (RJ-26-GA-1735) to stop. The driver drove a little ahead and stopped before fleeing. On failing to find him after a search, the officers took the tanker to the police station and found 46 heads of cattle dead inside.
On checking the engine number and chassis number, officials found that the vehicle belonged to Mubarak Nazir, a resident of Jaipur. The cattle were most likely being transported to Maharashtra, the police said.
The assistant sub-inspector of Kaprada police station lodged a complaint against the tanker driver and owner Mubarak Nazir under IPC sections IPC 429 (mischief by killing or maiming the cattle), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and various sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
Valsad district superintendent of police Rajdeepsinh Zala said, “The container driver and owner had not made water, food or air ventilation available in the container, which led to the death of the cattle inside. A total of 46 cattle, worth Rs 9.20 lakh, were illegally trafficked with no documents from Rajasthan to Maharashtra. We buried the carcasses on Friday. We have launched a hunt for the container’s driver and owner. We are carrying out further investigation.”