Gurugram Police on November 16 arrested cow smugglers Mohammad Salim, Mohammad Saad, and Mohammad Mahboob from Palwal after a 20km-long chase that began from Sector 37 in Gurugram. All three are residents of Nuh, Haryana.

Three other suspects managed to escape in the dark, the police said.

“We have nabbed the three and an FIR has been registered against them. We will produce them in a city court on Thursday,” said inspector Jasveer, SHO of Hathin police station.

They had loaded four stray cows from Sector 37 and Sector 56 and fled towards Mewat when a cow protection team and police officers started chasing them on Sohna Road, where they had erected a barricade, which the smugglers crashed into while attempting to escape.

The smugglers pushed off four cows from their moving vehicle in an attempt to block the movement of the vehicles chasing them, the police said.

The smugglers opened fire on the vehicles of the cow protection team, the police said. They had stored stones and glass balls in their van, which they threw at the cow protection team members, the police added.

Rajbir Boken, a member associated with the Bajrang Dal, said that late Tuesday night information was received that smugglers were picking up cows.

“After getting this information, I along with Monu Manesar and others started chasing. We reached Bhondsi via Hero Honda Chowk from where the smugglers took their pickup towards Garhi Bazidpur road and started running. We were chasing them while they pelted stones and opened fire on us. But after a chase of about 20 Kms we caught three while others escaped,”Boken said.

Monu Manesar said, “One of our team members, Paramjeet, was injured during the chase while our three vehicles were damaged. We have filed a complaint at Hathin police station and an FIR has been registered under various sections including an attempt to murder”.