ALWAR: A suspected cow smuggler was shot dead in a shootout with the police near Janta Colony area of Alwar district in the wee hours of Thursday. Five of his accomplices managed to flee through the narrow alleys of the colony after the tyre of their vehicle got punctured.

The bullet-riddled body of Talim Khan (22) was found inside the cabin of a mini truck along with a countrymade pistol and two cartridges. Police recovered six cows, including a dead one, from the truck, giving rise to the suspicion that the cattle were being illegally transported.

District superintendent of police Rahul Prakash claimed that Khan was shot dead in retaliatory firing by the police. “He was part of a gang that picked up stray cattle from streets and smuggled them across the border into Haryana. The mini truck was first located by a mobile patrolling unit near Moti Dungri area at 2am while they were loading cows. But the smugglers fired at us and fled.

Following this, all police stations were put on alert and we cut off all their escape routes,” he said. Some 500 metres ahead, four policemen from Aravali police station tried to stop the speeding truck near a checkpost at Pratap auditorium.

Talim Khan, his bullet-riddled body was found inside the cabin of the mini truck; a pistol recovered by the police.

‘They kept on firing at check-posts’

“They kept on firing at police check-posts near Bhawani Top, Pratap auditorium, etc. They switched off the truck’s headlights and went towards the

. As soon as they came down the flyover, the NEB police station team fired at the truck. Two bullets broke the windshield and killed Khan who was sitting near the driver’s seat,” Prakash said, adding that the NEB police had also laid a wooden plank with iron nails which punctured the truck’s tyre.

Even with a flattened tyre, the driver of the truck managed to drive about half-a-kilometre and turned towards the thickly-populated Janta Colony. At 2.20am, the smugglers abandoned their truck in the middle of the locality and fled from thespot, leaving Khan insidethe vehicle.

Policefired a total of seven rounds. “Two bulletshitTalim Khan, one on his chest while another passed through his right chin. But we are waiting for the post-mortem report to ascertain that,” said an official.

Talim Khan was a resident of Nuh village in Haryana, the same place from where Pehlu Khan hailed.