Varanasi: Three cattle smugglers, including one who suffered a bullet injury in the leg, were arrested following an exchange of fire with Bhanvarkole police in Ghazipur district on Thursday. Police seized 18 cattle-laden trucks and recovered two firearms from them.Bhanvarkole police station in charge Rajiv Kumar Pandey said that acting on a tip-off, his team cordoned the Rasulapur-Mohammadabad-Bharauli road and intercepted a Punjab-registered truck carrying nine cattle. During questioning, the driver informed police that another truck carrying nine more cattle from Punjab was arriving on its way to cross the border to enter Bihar.When the second vehicle was signalled to stop, the occupants opened fire at the police team and tried to escape after jumping out of the truck, said Pandey, adding that during retaliatory firing, Sukhdeep Kumar (37) suffered a bullet injury in the leg.Police also arrested the driver of the other truck and their companions Darshan Singh (58), Pawan Kumar alias Salim Khan (30) and Sukhdeep, all residents of Ludhiana district, Punjab. After recovering a country-made pistol, cartridges and two trucks, police rushed injured Sukhdeep to the hospital.
