Gurugram cops arrest 3 ‘cattle smugglers’ after gunfight

Three suspected cattle smugglers were arrested after an exchange of fire with Gurugram police’s crime branch teams at Medawas in Sector 64 early Wednesday morning. The accused were fleeing in a stolen container truck carrying a cow and a calf stolen from Ullawas in Sector 61, police said. 

Public relations officer of Gurugram Police, Sandeep Kumar, identified the suspects as Mohammad Arif, 28, and Arif alias Mandal, 27, both from Palwal, and Mohammad Rashid alias Yusuf alias Kanke, 33, from Rojka Meo, Nuh. He added that Arif and Rashid sustained bullet injuries in their legs while trying to escape on foot after opening fire on the police at around 5pm on Wednesday. “They were rushed to the civil hospital in Sector 10A and are out of danger. The third accused was arrested from the truck’s cabin,” Kumar added. 

Police said the smugglers fired four rounds at the police, one of which shattered a police vehicle’s window. Officers retaliated with four rounds, eventually subduing the accused. Two country-made pistols, including a breech-load, ten empty cartridges, one live cartridge, and the stolen truck were seized from their possession, police said. 

According to investigators, Rashid has 49 criminal cases against him, including murder, cattle smuggling, and robbery. Notably, he was involved in a 2009 incident where he and his associates rammed a police vehicle near Hero Honda Chowk, killing head constable Babu Lal. At the time, Rashid was also fleeing after stealing cattle. The other two suspects have three cases registered against them, including an attempt to murder and cattle smuggling, police added. 

PRO Kumar said the stolen truck was taken from Bilaspur on December 24, and the cattle were stolen from a dairy farm in Ullawas.