The truck catches fire after hitting a pole in Sriganganagar on Saturday

Jaipur: In a high-speed chase on Saturday morning, a truck full of smuggled calves which was being pursued by Punjab police, caught fire after entering Sriganganagar in Rajasthan . The truck broke past three barriers, following which it collided with a pole and caught fire. Three calves were burnt to death while few were injured, which were taken to a gaushala. The driver of the truck is absconding. Police claimed that the truck was smuggling the animals from Punjab to Rajasthan.

Hemant Sharma, SP, Sriganganagar said, “The truck driver was trying to lose the Punjab police, who were chasing it from a long way. They were in hot pursuit of the truck and it appears that the cattle were being smuggled in it. Once it crossed over into our state, the driver lost control and the vehicle rammed straight into a pole. He immediately absconded, and we are searching for him.”

There were 20 calves in the container, which was completely sealed from behind, leaving no exit point for the animals, due to which three calves burnt to death, when the truck caught fire.

A helper who was in the truck has been arrested. He has been identified as Rahees, who is reportedly from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh . “We are interrogating the helper to find out where they were transporting the cattle from and what was their destination. The postmortem of the animals, which perished in the fire, was done on Saturday. Rest of the animals were taken to a local gaushala and the few injured were given medical treatment,” added a police official.

A case has been registered under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 279 (rash driving), as well as section 3 of The Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, along with various sections of Rajasthan Bovine Act.

