Angul: Members of the Bantala Gau Suraksha Mancha of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) intercepted 15 cattle-laden trucks at Bantala square hereThursday, saying they were illegally trafficking the cattle.
Each truck had stocks of 30-40 cattle. Some of the cows jam-packed inside the trucks were already dead. The incident caused tension in the area. The vigilantes tried to assault the men on the trucks, branding them ‘cattle smugglers’. However, police rushed to the spot and detained the men and their trucks. The vehicles were taken to the police station for a probe and the men on trucks were detained.
Earlier, forest officials had arrested 12 persons while illegally transporting cattle from Sonepur district to Kolkata. The traffickers set a portion of the Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary on fire to divert attention of the officials so that they could transport cattle from Sonepur to Narsinghpur through the sanctuary, police said.
