Traffic came to a grinding halt for almost five hours in Greater Noida region on Saturday after villagers intercepted a truck carrying cattle which they suspected were headed to an abattoir. Villagers also clashed with police and damaged vehicles. The police managed to stem the mob from torching the truck that was carrying livestock.
According to police, the incident came to light early morning when a canter carrying 58 cows had to stop on the Greater Noida-Kasna Road because of a flat tyre. “The truck was on its way to Delhi. In Kasna area, one of its tyres got punctured. When the occupants of the truck were fixing the puncture, locals attacked the driver who abandoned the truck and fled,” a police officer said.
“The villagers unloaded the animals and tried to set the truck on fire. They also blocked the roads of the area, resulting in a massive traffic jam,” the officer said. “The truck had more than 58 cows, two of which died. The rescued cattle has been sent to a shelter in Greater Noida,” he added.
Brajesh Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Police (Rural) of Greater Noida said, “We managed to control the situation and pacify the crowd. We are investigating on three fronts — where was the truck coming from, where was it headed and who did the truck belong to,” said the SP.