On 8th December, the police in Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh caught a gang of cow smugglers. Their leader Umar was running a cow slaughter racket under the guise of a Hindu and wore a saffron scarf around his neck. He also put a tilak on his forehead and held a trident in his hand. The deceived people considered him a Hindu sage. During this time, many similar cow smuggling rackets were exposed, in which the accused belonged to the Hindu community.
The arrest of Hindus, who consider cows as mothers, for cow slaughter has been a very new and shocking trend for the common people. OpIndia conducted a thorough investigation into these instances, looking into every facet of them. Multiple reasons were uncovered during this inquiry, providing answers to numerous open-ended queries.
What are the findings of government statistics
For instance, around 15% of charges filed under the Cow Slaughter Act involve Hindus in the Uttar Pradesh district of Muzaffarnagar. A total of 27 cases of cow slaughter act were reported to different police stations throughout the area between January and November of 2024. Hindus have been mentioned as the accused in four of these cases. These cases have been registered in Budhana, Nai Mandi and Charthawal police stations.
Information gathered by OpIndia also unveiled that the involvement of the Hindu accused in these cases has been found in activities like transporting chopped meat, transporting live cows from one place to another in vehicles as well as buying and selling cows.
Many Hindus got trapped due to the mistake of a suspect
The most talked about case of involvement of Hindus in cow smuggling recently came to light from Noida. On 9th November, Noida Police, with the help of cow protectors, recovered a large consignment of beef in Greater Noida which revealed a network in which cows were slaughtered in West Bengal and their meat was brought to Noida in containers and kept in a cold storage.
The meat was then supplied to many places including Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region) and Uttarakhand. Police informed that 185 tonnes of beef has been recovered. According to an estimate, this amount of meat would have been collected by slaughtering at least 8 to10 thousand cows. The truck bearing Haryana’s number in which it was being taken to Noida was driven by Shiv Shankar, while Sachin serves as his helper in the vehicle. Both have been arrested.
The cold storage where it beef was stored is owned by Puran Joshi and the manager is Akshay Saxena. Mohammad Khurshidun Nabi, director of the company through which the beef was supplied, has been arrested along with the other two. The police learned of Shoaib Haqqani’s involvement with Avinash Kumar and Rakesh Singh during the course of the inquiry.
All three are employees of a company named Toro Primary Private Limited which is accused of buying and selling beef placed in cold storage. cow protector Ved Nagar, who played the most important role in exposing this incident, spoke to OpIndia. He told us that the main accused named Puran Joshi has made all the other Hindus scapegoats for his crime due to greed for money.
He stated that truck driver Shiv Shankar and Sachin were unaware of the contentc in the truck. Both of them were sent someplace under false pretense and were called after beef was loaded in the truck, in West Bengal. Afterwards, they were given a map and asked to follow it.
Ved Nagar mentioned that cold storage owner Puran Joshi has links with international cow smugglers. He expressed apprehension that the latter has accepted Islam and highlighted that a person claiming to be Hindu cannot smuggle beef. He described the other Hindus arrested in this case as just associates of Puran Joshi, who did not know anything about the matter.
Lack of morality and values is the reason
On 9th November, the police arrested 7 cow smugglers after an encounter in Satrikh police station area of Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh. Knives, guns, vehicles and other things were recovered from the arrested persons. Sarwar, Gufran, Mohammad Umar, Nabijan and Mohammad Aziz were nabbed along with Ankit Gupta. They had also fired at the police.
OpIndia spoke to Mahamandaleshwar Swami Vedmurtinand Saraswati of Niranjani Akhara regarding this matter. He stated that in the present times, parents in Hindu homes are distancing their children from sanskars in an attempt to make them modern. Over time, the kids are getting involved in sins such as cow slaughter because their parents never taught them about religion, cow, Ganga and Gita etc.
He further told us that he is concerned about the increasing number of Hindus involved in cow slaughter and cow smuggling and he will discuss this issue with all the saints and sages in the upcoming Maha Kumbh. He added that after this discussion, the saints will move towards a solution.
Sin in pursuit of a luxurious life
The police exposed a cow smuggling racket in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh in October 2024. Pratap Maurya and his brother Bablu were found involved in this racket. Both of them were caretakers of a cowshed in Sharifnagar village of the Deoranian police station area. The cows were reportedly sent from this cowshed for their slaughter. Most of their buyers were people from the Muslim community. The police arrested both of them and sent them to jail.
There were some Muslims among the accused, who used to slaughter cows. OpIndia spoke to Himanshu Patel, an official of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of Bareilly, who played an important role in their arrest. He stated that he had been keeping an eye on this racket for a long time. Pratap and Bablu used to sell cows from the cowshed for Rs 2 to 3 thousand per animal. The majority of these cows were elderly and ill bovines that were taken to the forests killed by Muslim butchers.
Himanshu Patel pointed out that Pratap Maurya and his brother Bablu were involved in cow smuggling since they enjoyed living in luxury when we probed him about the issue. Their hunger for money led them to become entangled with the crime of cow slaughter.
Himanshu further stated that both the accused brothers were financially weak. They used to work in a cow shelter and receive a salary of 6 to 7 thousand rupees per month. However, expensive desires pushed them towards anti-Hindu crime. According to Himanshu Patel, he and his organization demand the same punishment for people of every class, religion and faith involved in cow smuggling.
Hindus used as defense in cow smuggling
OpIndia spoke to Bharatiya Janata Party MLA T Raja Singh from Hyderabad who told us that extremist Muslims are at the root of cow slaughter, but they use underprivileged Hindus as their line of defense by luring them. He added that Hindus who do not know the importance of cows and are very poor are being used in cow smuggling. Raja Singh mentioned that the truck drivers and cleaners used in smuggling as well as the laborers are Hindus.
He stated that this is a ploy adopted by Muslim smugglers to avoid assaults, etc. when they are caught. Raja Singh mentioned Telangana and claimed that Muslims frequently even force poor members of the minority community to slaughter cows on Bakrid in an effort to prove Hindus
Political rhetoric against cows is spreading hatred
According to Raja Singh, the reason for the involvement of some Hindus in cow smuggling is due to the rhetoric of leaders of opposition parties. Raja Singh cited Akhilesh Yadav as an example when he claimed that stray cows were the nation’s largest issue, affecting everyone from the streets to the Parliament. Those Hindus who even remotely believe what he declared develop a hatred for cows as a result.
Raja Singh also appealed to people not to pay attention to the utterances of the Samajwadi Party’s supremo and called him a packaged milk drinker. He told us that no Hindu justifies cow slaughter. He considers the cow as his mother and considers the one who slaughters it as an enemy of his religion. According to Raja Singh, the intentions of those who are conspiring to point fingers at the entire community by making some Hindu pawns will not be fulfilled.
Policemen’s opinion on Hindus involved in cow smuggling
OpIndia spoke to some retired and current policemen to investigate the reason for Hindus’ involvement in cow smuggling. On the condition of anonymity, the policemen explicitly voiced that the main reason for their involvement in cow smuggling was their greed. However, all of them also underlined that the maximum complicity of Hindus is limited to transporting cows from one place to another.
As a result, the police apprehend most of the drivers, Khalasis (helpers) and some of their other associates for being involved in the conspiracy. A police inspector also told OpIndia that cow killers are never accepted in the social fabric of Hindus. Hence, listed cow smugglers try their best to include a person from Hindu society with them as part of the plot.
The police inspector further highlighted that a Hindu would not be suspected if he stayed with the cow smugglers. The police inspector added that it will be hard to file a case, even if they are caught due to suspicion. A policeman stated that many times the cow smugglers themselves take the names of cow protectors active in their area to trap them in the legal net. Such allegations are also found to be false after investigation.
Minor Hindus brainwashed for cow smuggling
Another police officer unveiled that cow killers are brainwashing minor Hindu children and getting them to commit crimes like cow smuggling for just Rs 200 to 500. This secret was revealed after arrests in a case at Jagatpur police station in Raebareli in the year 2022. We were told that even the parents of the 13 to 14-year youngsters did not know that their kids were involved in cow smuggling.
Each day, around six or seven minors were paid between Rs 200 and Rs 300 to wander around in various locations. They were instructed to tether any helpless cow to a tree and call someone right away. The cow smugglers would tie the cows, load them into their trucks and drive far away to kill them.
How the economic system of cow killers operates
A retired police officer told OpIndia that cow smugglers earn around 10 to 15 thousand rupees by slaughtering a healthy bull (male cow). Their meat, bones and skins are sold at different places. Meat is consumed, while the skin is utilized to make things like shoes and jackets, among others. He expressed that the economic ecosystem of a cow smuggler is linked to legal and illegal business from meat to skins.
On the condition of anonymity, he added that this is the reason that despite strict action against cow smugglers, they are soon released from jails because they have ties to influential people. We were also informed that as a result of changing times and the government’s increasing strictness, now cow smugglers have started luring some Hindus and keeping them with them for their defense.
There are officers/employees of both mindsets in the police
During our conversation with Hindu and cow protection organizations, we were told that there are officers and employees of both mindsets in the police department too. Some cops, out of greed, meet cow smugglers in their area and encourage them. However, many in the administration adopt a zero-tolerance policy in matters like cow slaughter by disregarding all kinds of pressure and greed.
Bareilly’s Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Himanshu Patel voiced that there are some policemen who, to cover their mistakes, keep trying to register cases against those Hindus who start raising the issue of cow smuggling in their area. He expressed hope that the Uttar Pradesh government will soon identify such administrative officers and punish them.
Cow smugglers won’t be stopped until every case has been registered
During our conversation with Hindu and cow protection organizations, we were told that there are officers and employees of both mindsets in the police department too. Some cops, out of greed, meet cow smugglers in their area and encourage them. However, many in the administration adopt a zero-tolerance policy in matters like cow slaughter by disregarding all kinds of pressure and greed.
Bareilly’s Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Himanshu Patel voiced that there are some policemen who, to cover their mistakes, keep trying to register cases against those Hindus who start raising the issue of cow smuggling in their area. He expressed hope that the Uttar Pradesh government will soon identify such administrative officers and punish them.
According to OpIndia’s ground investigation, the concerned in charge at the police station where cow slaughter occurs does everything in his power to keep it under control. Avoiding departmental action against oneself is the primary motivation for doing this. The killing of cows is seen as a critical issue in society. Additionally, there are strong directives not to allow cow slaughter to take place, particularly under the current Uttar Pradesh government.
The police officer in the region of Uttar Pradesh where cow slaughter incidents happen has begun to feel that his position is in jeopardy. On the condition of anonymity and without being on camera, a few police officers and representatives of a Hindu organization informed us that the administration often attempts to repress cow slaughter incidents for these reasons.
They stated that if they are given a free hand to register every case, identify the cow smugglers and take strict action against them, then within just a few cases all the cow smugglers and cow killers will be behind bars. They have described this as a possible step that will bring positive change in the long term.
