Fifteen vehicles which were ferrying cattle were today set on fire by a mob in the Pataudi area near Gurgaon upon suspicions that the animals were being taken for slaughtering, police said.
Ironically, the animals had been rounded up by the Chandigarh administration which was sending the stray cattle to Barsana Gaushalla near Vrindavan in Uttar Pardesh.
Gurgaon DCP (South) Rahul Sharma said that a total of 16 vehicles had been requisitioned by the Chandigarh administration to ferry the cattle to UP.
All the vehicles had proper papers and the convoy was accompanied by six employees of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. Two ambulances were also accompanying the vehicles, which had affixed "on government duty" stamps on their windshields.
Despite all this, when the vehicles were nearing Pataudi, a rumour was circulated that the animals were headed for slaughter.
Thus, when the vehicles entered Pataudi, the mob attacked and damaged the vehicles.
Patuadi SDM Manoj Khatri and ACP Usha Kundu, who were present at the spot, tried to assure the mob that the cattle were being taken to UP and not for slaughtering, but the locals were not convinced.
Thereafter, some locals at Jatola and Khandewla villages on the Haily Mandi-Farukhnagar road unloaded the cows and bulls from the vehicles, all but one of which were then set on fire, Sharma said.
The disturbances led Deputy Commissioner Shekhar Vidyarthi and Commissioner Alok Mittal to rush to the spot in an attempt to control the situation.
Twenty persons who were allegedly behind the incident have been identified and FIRs were being registered against them at the Pataudi and Farukhnagar police stations. Efforts were on to identify the rest of the miscreants, Sharma said adding that the situation was now under control.
