Groups allege illegal cattle transport, handover 2 milk traders to police for second time

Two milk traders were handed over to the police twice in the past 29 days by different groups of people, who claimed that the duo illegally transported cattle from Jharkhand to neighbouring West Bengal, an official said.

The men have shown documents that verify they are milk traders, Sidhgora police station in-charge Manoj Thakur said on Saturday.

Different groups were involved in the incidents.

On August 30, the two men were assaulted at Jamshedpur's Dimna Chowk area and handed over to the Olidih police station, sources said, adding that trucks carrying cattle were also seized.

Following the incident, a case was registered against 20 persons, some called themselves cow vigilantes'. They are yet to be arrested, officer-in-charge Olidih police station Chandrasekhar Kumar said.

The duo procured orders from a court here for the release of their trucks and animals from the Olidih police station, police said.

However, when the duo was returning after getting their vehicles and livestock released on Friday, they were again attacked by another group, which also claimed that the victims were involved in illegal cattle trade, they said.

The two men, this time, were handed over to the Sidhgora police station.

One of the traders, Satyendra Pandey (45) said he along with another trader was carrying cows and calves from Buxar in Bihar to cowsheds in Dumdum in Kolkata, where they have a dairy business, Thakur said.

Once they produced the release order and other valid documents, they were allowed to go, he said.