Prayagraj: The arrest of two notorious livestock thieves in an encounter with Pratapgarh police has proved to be a major catch for UP police, to bust the network of gangs involved in pet animal theft cases, particularly cows, buffalo, sheep and goats operating in an organised way across eastern UP districts. Armed with the latest SUVs and sophisticated weapons, these livestock thief gangs conduct recee in villages, targeting those who have an adequate number of small animals like sheep or goats, assign tasks to different teams and execute crime between 2 am and 4 am to dodge cops. Two members of an inter-district goat theft gang were injured and arrested following an encounter by cops near Badohi village in Pratapgarh district late Monday night. The arrested criminals revealed latest modus operandi of gangs operating in an organised way. Interestingly, these gangs involved in animal theft have a well-connected network with traders and brokers selling or purchasing cattle in animal fairs or individuals and operate in an organised way. SP (Pratapgarh) Dr Anil Kumar told TOI, “Cops have maintained a ‘pashu chor’ register with a total of 331 names of miscreants involved in animal theft cases and are maintaining a strict watch on their activities. Three police teams have also been formed to crack down on gangs involved in animal theft.” The SP, meanwhile, claimed, “Since district police have roped in dedicated police teams to tighten the noose around gangs involved in animal theft and the subsequent arrest of over 70 criminals in the past year, the cases of animal theft have declined.” The SP admitted that, “In villages, goats, buffalo are the only source of income (bread and butter) and they face uncertainty when their pet animals are stolen.” These animal theft gangs have inter-district or interstate connections to transport stolen animals to safer locations and resell them at the earliest to avoid police actions. As animal ‘mandis’ are being organised at the district level frequently, these animal thieves prefer to move to ‘mandi’ locations with stolen pets. The Pratapgarh police also claimed to have slapped the Gangsters Act against two notorious animal thieves in the recent past.
