Uttarakhand: Police Team Held 'Hostage' In Roorkee After Cow Slaughter Suspect Dies During Chase

A man from Roorkee in Uttarakhand's Haridwar district died while evading arrest in a suspected cow meat smuggling case after which villagers held the police team hostage.

A team of police personnel was held "hostage" by a crowd of local residents in Uttarakhand's Roorkee after a man suspected of being involved in cow meat smuggling died during a police chase. The incident took place in Madhopur village in the Roorkee area of Uttarakhand's Haridwar district.

Based on information about some individuals involved in cow slaughter, a six-team member of the Cow Protection Squad was patrolling the area, said police, reported the Times of India.

The CPS team asked a man identified as Wasim Qureshi Monu, a resident of a nearby village of Sohalpur Gada, to stop his scooter. But the man accelerated and jumped into a large, weed-infested pond to escape.

The police launched a search operation but were unable to locate Monu due to darkness. His body was found in the pond on Sunday morning, said Roorkee Circle officer Narendra Pant.

An FIR has been registered over alleged cow meat smuggling in which the police have stated that the meat appeared to be of a bovine animal on initial assessment.

“We suspected a crime had been committed when the person fled, leaving the scooter behind," said complainant Sub Inspector Sharad Singh in the FIR, reported the Indian Express.

"Upon inspecting the area with a flashlight, we found a blue plastic bag near the scooter containing 35 kg of pinkish, fatty meat in seven transparent bags… We opened the trunk and discovered an additional 15 kg of similar meat, which, based on initial assessment, appeared to be from a bovine animal,” the FIR stated.

Locals Assault Police Officers, Hold Them Hostage

Following the death of the accused, outrage erupted among villagers who created a ruckus and prevented authorities from taking the dead body for postmortem.

The crowd soon gathered and surrounded the team. They threatened and misbehaved with a constable and took the team "hostage", Singh said in another FIR filed in connection with the crowd’s alleged assault on the police team.

The crowd made the meat and the scooter used for transport disappear and accused the police team of shooting their man and throwing him into the water body, said the second FIR.

Around 100-150 people obstructed our work, held us hostage, abused, beat us, threatened to kill us, and removed evidence from the scene,” he said.

A third FIR was also booked in connection with the case for allegedly trying to incite hostility through social media.