MEERUT: Two alleged cow smugglers were injured on Tuesday morning following an encounter with police in the Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh, officials said, adding that both the injured smugglers have been hospitalised.
According to police, they were investigating an incident of cow slaughter in the forest of the Chitwana village on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.
A police spokesperson said that early on Tuesday morning, two police teams surrounded the car in which two miscreants were travelling.
The car's driver panicked and the vehicle collided with a tree on the roadside, following which the two smugglers -- Kala alias Naveed and Minaj alias Chhota -- started running in opposite directions, the spokesperson added.
Both of them were injured in an encounter with police, and were subsequently arrested.
One pistol each, one empty shell and one live cartridge each and a car, tools for slaughtering animals, rope, and a syringe were allegedly recovered from the possession of the accused.
During interrogation, the accused confessed to slaughtering the cow in the forest along with their companions Junaid and Arif, police said.