Six persons, including two policemen, were injured in a gunfight between a gang of cattle smugglers-cum-illegal slaughterers and a team of law enforcing agency in the district, said a police official Saturday.
The shootout ensured when a police team, on a tip off about illegal slaughtering, raided a secluded mango orchard near Kalyanman Chowki under Beniyaganj Kotwali police station area on Friday, said Assistant Superintendent of Police Gyananjay Singh.
As the police team challenged the people engaged in slaughtering there, they opened fire, forcing police to retaliate, the ASP said.
In the gun battle, two cattle smugglers, Mujib and Habib, were injured while a constable, Satyaprakash, too suffered a gunshot injury, said the ASP.
Following the shootout, the police also arrested a third gang member, Wali Mohammad, and seized over 15 quintal of beef, besides the implements used for slaughtering animals, he added.
Three other gangsters, however, managed to escape amid the shootout and the police later in the day came to know that the three were holed up in the jungles of Hathauda under Kachauna police station later in the day, the ASP said.
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The police team, which reached the area, asked the smugglers to surrender but they opened fire in which a second constable, Omkar Yadav, was injured.
Smugglers Shabbir and Rahis too were injured in the return fire by the police, said Singh, adding the two along with their third accomplice Anwar were arrested.
Two country-made weapons and several empty cartridges were recovered from their possession, said Singh.
All the injured have been admitted to hospital, the ASP added.
SP Alok Priyadarshi on Saturday said those arrested are being interrogated to elicit more information about their gang and operation.
A drive against cattle smugglers will be launched in the district soon, the SP added.