Cattle smuggler with Rs 50,000 reward arrested

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) on Monday arrested a wanted accused carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 in connection with a cattle smuggling case registered in Gonda district.The accused, identified as Mohd Bilal, was apprehended from Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh on March 8. "During the intelligence exercise, STF received credible information that Bilal was hiding in Madhya Pradesh to evade arrest. Acting swiftly on the tip-off, an STF team reached the location and arrested him," said SSP STF, Ghule Chandrabhan. During interrogation, Bilal told STF officials that he was part of a cattle smuggling gang operating across several states. The gang allegedly procured cattle from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Bihar and smuggled them to Assam and West Bengal, SSP STF said. Records show that Bilal was involved in multiple criminal cases. Following his arrest, Bilal was handed over to Paraspur police station in Gonda, where further legal proceedings are being carried out by the local police.