Raipur
Kotraroad police arrested six individuals and rescued six cattle being illegally transported to Jharkhand during an intercept operation at Sarwani Main Road early on Monday.
Acting on a tip-off under “Operation Shankhnaad”—a campaign directed by Senior Superintendent of Police Shashi Mohan Singh to combat cattle smuggling—a police team led by DSP Unnati Thakur, DSP Ajay Nagwanshi, and Kotraroad Police Station In-charge Sheel Aditya Singh set up a blockade on the Sarwani-Kulba main road.
Around 5 am, police spotted three suspicious pickup trucks approach the checkpoint. When officers attempted to halt the vehicles, the drivers accelerated towards the personnel and rammed a police vehicle in an attempt to breach the blockade. Officers managed to evade the oncoming trucks and intercepted all three vehicles after a chase.
Police recovered two cattle from a vehicle registered in Jharkhand, arresting driver Nakul Sahu and passenger Shiva Kumar Sahu, both residents of Gumla district in Jharkhand. Search of a second Jharkhand-registered truck yielded one animal, leading to the arrest of driver Aditya Mahto and Rupesh Lehre, residents of Bishunpur and Lohardaga. The third truck, bearing an Odisha registration number, contained two cattle. Police arrested driver Ram Mahto of Lohardaga and Raju Satnami, a resident of Sarwani in Raigarh.
Interrogations revealed that the suspects were transporting the cattle to Gumla, Jharkhand, with the help of an accomplice named Lalit, a resident of Sarwani, who fled the scene during the interception.
Police seized six cattle valued at ₹2.5 lakh along with three pickup trucks estimated at ₹15 lakh, taking the total value of seized property to ₹17.5 lakh. The rescued animals were transferred to safe custody.
Kotraroad police registered a case under Sections 281, 221, 132, and 109(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Sections 4 and 6 of the Chhattisgarh Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act 2004, and Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960. The accused are being remanded to judicial custody, while efforts remain underway to locate the absconding suspect.
SSP Shashi Mohan Singh stated that Raigarh police will continue strict action against illegal cattle transport and animal cruelty, urging citizens to report any suspicious activity to the authorities immediately.
