Chandrapur police seize illegal cattle smuggling van in Padoli, goods worth Rs 5.5 lakh

Police in the Padoli police station area of Chandrapur district have taken major action against a vehicle involved in illegal cattle smuggling. A Bolero pickup van was found carrying three cattle, crammed in brutally.

Police had received reliable information from confidential sources that cattle were going to be smuggled in a pickup vehicle from the Padoli police station area. Acting on this information, a police team laid a trap and thoroughly searched the vehicle on suspicion. The search revealed three cattle tied up inside in an extremely cruel and inhumane manner. The animals had been given neither fodder nor water, had no room to move, and the entire transport was being carried out without any permit.

Police immediately took action, freed the three animals and seized the Bolero pickup van being used for the smuggling. The three seized animals and the pickup van together were valued at around Rs 5.55 lakh, which was seized after preparing a panchnama.

When the Bolero pickup driver, Animuddin Gulbuddin Shaikh, aged 24, a resident of Shivnagar Ward, Ghuggus, Chandrapur taluka and district, was questioned in the matter, it emerged that he did not have any valid permit or documents for transporting the animals. Police then registered a case against the accused under Section 11(1)(d) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, Sections 5, 5(a), 5(b) and 9 of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976 (amended 2015), and Section 119 of the Maharashtra Police Act.

Padoli police are now investigating in depth where these animals were being brought from, where they were being taken for slaughter, and whether a larger racket is active behind this illegal smuggling. The action, carried out in broad daylight, has caused a stir among cattle smugglers in the area.