Lakhimpur Kheri: Fourteen members of an inter-district gang who were reportedly involved in the killing and trade of cattle were arrested in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Following an encounter on Thursday night, seven of the gang's members were taken into custody. The incident, which happened on the Sarsawan-Sahjani route, also resulted in injuries to a police officer.
Later, the police unit arrested seven more people, among them the guard of a cow shelter, and seized four cows in addition to illegal country-made firearms, cartridges, and sharp knives from their possession.
Lakhimpur Kheri SP Sanjiv Suman said, "All arrested accused were responsible for the recent slaughter of 15 cows. The carcasses of these cows -- which were picked up from a cow shelter in the district's Sunsi village -- had been recovered from a sugarcane field on December 18."
The gang allegedly lured the watchman to sell off 15 cows of the shelter home and then slaughtered the bovines during nighttime.
Later, the meat was carried to other districts. "Some of the accused were even involved in similar incidents which took place in 2017," said the SP.
The accused have been booked under section 3/5/8 of the prevention of cow slaughter Act.
With inputs from IANS