In UP’s village of cattle slaughter, panic rules: ‘Masked men… began raining blows on me’

A few minutes’ drive from the Collectorate and the bustle of Etah, where campaigning for local body elections is under way, an estimated 17 cattle were allegedly slaughtered and their remains smuggled away by “armed assailants” in the early hours of Tuesday and Wednesday.

Three men — Hridesh Chauhan (50), his son Shivam Chauhan (19) and Gaurav Solanki (24) — were beaten up, allegedly by the unidentified men who killed the cows early Wednesday morning.

Police have registered two FIRs under IPC Sections 395 (dacoity), 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and under Sections of UP Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act but have not named any accused so far.

“A case has been registered against unknown persons and investigation is ongoing,” SSP, Etah, Udai Shankar Singh said.

According to residents, while the discovery of “three to four” cow carcasses near a small waterbody on the periphery of the two villages had already set alarm bells ringing on Tuesday morning, residents had not anticipated what unfolded the following night.

Much of the villages’ population of around 400 families were attending a wedding ceremony in the area on Tuesday night, and given the ongoing civic polls, there were few staff at the local police station.

Gaurav Solanki, a resident of Lakhmipur, said he was returning home from the wedding in nearby Bagwala village around midnight when he saw a “gang of around 25 people”, and a white pick-up van.

“The van was like ones that are used to transport milk. They began raining blows on me as soon as they saw me. Soon, more men joined in, one of the vehicles left and another came with more people. They stripped me of whatever I had — cash, my mobile, everything,” Solanki, who runs a small provisions store in his village, claimed.

Solanki said he managed to escape and call the police around 1 am before he was transported to a hospital. He alleged that the assailants were carrying lathis, jackrods and pistols.

“Just a day ago, carcasses were found not 2 km from where this happened. What did the administration do? Why weren’t they already alert,” he asked.

Near Solanki’s house, Hridesh Chauhan lay motionless on a cot, his head bandaged, after being discharged from a government facility in Saifai.

His son Shivam said he and his father were returning from a dairy where they work when “30 to 35 people with sticks and sarias” overpowered them. “They had already slaughtered most of the animals except one which they slaughtered in front of me. The language they were speaking wasn’t like ours. They had covered their faces; only their eyes were visible,” Shivam alleged.

“After beating my father and knocking him out, they bound me and continued loading up their vehicles with meat before leaving around 15 minutes later,” he said.

The government-run gaushala is in Panwas village and is operated by the village pradhan, Vipin Kumar.

“They cut open the lock,” he said. “The creatures were slaughtered right over there,” he added, gesturing towards the middle of a muddied field, around 50 metres from the entrance.

ADM, Etah, Alok Kumar said, “Police are probing. All the accused will soon be identified and arrested.”