Cattle smugglers open fire at British woman

The police came around 2.45 a.m and the goons fled from the spot, abandoning the vehicle. They managed to get away due to traffic congestion on the way.

Gurgaon, September 27: Two women, including a British national, who tried to free animals packed into a speeding tempo, were fired at by a group of cattle smugglers on the Gurgaon-Alwar road.

The incident took place around 2.30 am on Tuesday when Sonia Sharma, a British national, and her friend Archie Baranwal were driving their new SUV and noticed five to six cows in the tempo that was speeding, a police official said.

The tempo had no rear tyres and was running on its rims.

"We found some boys sitting on its roof. We chased the vehicle to prevent the illegal cattle lifting. The person sitting next to the driver was abusing us," Sharma told PTI.

Seeing the plight of animals, the women called the police and asked the driver to stop. Smelling trouble, the assailants opened fire.

"We immediately called the police citing the torture on animals. We also signalled and asked these chaps to stop. To our horror, they started firing! They fired a shot at us also, fortunately it missed us," Sharma said, recapping what had happened.

But the two women were undeterred and continued the chase.

The police came around 2.45 a.m and the goons fled from the spot, abandoning the vehicle. They managed to get away due to traffic congestion on the way, Sharma added.

Gurgaon Police PRO Ravinder Kumar said a case had been registered in Sohna Police Station against four to five unidentified cattle smugglers following the complaint by the two women.

"No arrest has been made," he said.

Sharma, who is finding it hard to get over the trauma, alleged that there was little evidence of police patrolling or police vigil at that hour of the night and would like to leave the country.

"I have an impression about living in an independent country where I can go anywhere without any fear. But now, I am disgusted and appalled at what happened and just want to leave this country," she said.

Sharma further said that the incident had completely shaken her faith in the country s administration and legal system.

PTI