Padoli police chase Eicher truck, rescue 28 cattle and arrest driver

Padoli police chased and stopped an Eicher truck and rescued 28 bovine animals packed inside it. Police seized the vehicle, the animals and a mobile phone, together worth Rs 21.93 lakh. The operation began near Padoli Chowk and the truck was finally stopped in the Warora village area. The driver has been arrested and a case registered under the relevant laws.

According to police sources, a team from Padoli police station was checking vehicles at a blockade in front of Padoli Chowk when it received a tip-off that cattle were to be illegally transported in an Eicher truck. Shortly afterwards, a red, six-wheeled Eicher truck (number MH-28-BB-4970), covered with a blue tarpaulin, was seen coming from the direction of Chandrapur via the Erai river road.

Near Padoli Chowk, police signalled the driver by hand to pull over. Fearing arrest, the driver did not stop. He took a U-turn from the premises of a petrol pump and sped away on the wrong side of the road.

The driver fled via Kosara Phata Chowk, Devada and Wendli towards Warora village, which falls under the Rajura police station limits. Police immediately gave chase and forced the truck to stop by placing a barricade on the road at Warora village.

As soon as the truck halted, the driver abandoned it and ran into a field. A police team lying in wait quickly pursued him and caught him in the field area. A close inspection of the vehicle found 28 live bovine animals (bullocks and cows) cruelly crammed inside.

Police took the vehicle and the animals into custody. The seized goods include the 28 animals, valued at Rs 1.83 lakh, a Tata Eicher truck worth Rs 20 lakh and a Vivo mobile phone worth Rs 10,000, totalling Rs 21.93 lakh. The arrested accused is the truck driver, Abdul Hafiz Gufran Khan (33), a resident of Ward No. 04, Qureshi Mohalla, Gadchandur.

A case has been registered against the accused at Padoli police station under crime number 316/2026. It invokes Sections 5(1), 5(b), 9 and 11 of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976 (amended 2015), Section 11(1)(d) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and Sections 132/179 and 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act.

The operation was carried out under the guidance of the Chandrapur Superintendent of Police, the Additional Superintendent of Police and the Sub-Divisional Police Officer. It was carried out by a team of Padoli police station Police Inspector Sudhakar Kokode, Police Havaldar Vinod Wankar, and Police Constables Dhirajkumar Lodhi, Sameer Khade, Shrinivas Wabhitkar and Dhiraj Bhoyar.