Two alleged cow smugglers were arrested after exchanging fire with the police in Kaman town of Bharatpur district in Rajasthan on Thursday.

On getting information of cow smugglers, the Rajasthan police had barricaded the road in front of Kaman police station. The alleged smugglers, however, broke the barricade and tried to flee while firing at the police. The police then chased them and soon surrounded the vehicle. On realising that they were surrounded, the accused abandoned the truck full of cattle and ran towards the fields.

SHO Neki Ram Chowdhary and SI Rammilan Meena risked their lives to chase the culprits and finally succeeded in apprehending two men. Besides 27 cows and its progeny, the police also recovered two illegal weapons and cartridges from the smugglers. Nearly 70 litres of illicit liquor was also recovered from the truck.

The police sent the animals to a cow shelter and are interrogating the accused persons. The police expect to crack some unsolved cases with the help of the accused.

Earlier in February, the Rajasthan government had said that 1,113 cases of cow smuggling were registered in Rajasthan and 2,198 smugglers had been arrested in last three years.

Bharatpur tops the state in terms of the number of cases of cow smuggling while Alwar comes a close second. Jaipur rural district occupies the third spot.

The government said in a reply tabled in the state assembly that there were 33 instances of firing between smugglers and police in the last three years.

The home department said that from 2015 to 2017, 16,428 cows were rescued and 1051 vehicles impounded by the police in the state.The Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995 is in force in the state.

The BJP government led by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje faced flak for violence by cow vigilantes against alleged cow smugglers. Pehlu Khan was lynched by a mob in Alwar in July 2017 for allegedly smuggling cows while another alleged cow smuggler was shot dead by Alwar police in December 2017.