A sensational incident jolts Assam on June 22, when a gang of cow thieves hit and killed an elderly couple by car in the Raha area in the Nagaon district. At midnight on June 21, a gang of cow thieves in the Khalihamari village of Raha were trying to steal a cow in a Ford EcoSport Car. The gang put the cow in the vehicle and tried to flee.
But the owner came to know about the incident and started shouting. The villagers came out and tried to apprehend the gang. But the cow thieves gang tried to escape the spot and drove the car at full speed. The driver couldn’t control the vehicle and hit an elderly couple in front of their house. Locals said that all villagers came out of their houses after hearing the shouting. Villagers sealed the exit road of the village, and the gang was driving the vehicle at full speed, searching for an exit road.
But the gang couldn’t find it and tried to cross the village road at over speed. Bhadredwar Nath and his wife Seema Devi came out from their house and tried to prevent the gang from escaping. Both the elderly couple came in front of the car driven by the cow thieves. The gang hit the couple with the car and fell into a deep roadside ditch.
60-year-old farmer Bhadreswar Nath died on the spot, and his body was found under the crashed vehicle. His wife, 55 years old Seema Devi, was severely injured and later died in the hospital. The villagers captured one injured cow thief. The injured thief was identified as Nazir Hussain of the Rupahihat area.
According to Nagaon police sources, Nazir Hussain succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Another thief, identified as Khairul Islam, was arrested in a nearby area in the morning. Two thieves are still absconding.
The last rites of the deceased couple were done in the presence of hundreds of people. Angry villagers demand stern action against the cow thief gangs. Moreover, they are demanding the deployment of the Village Defence Party (VDP) in all sensitive villages as the cow thief gangs are very active in the rainy season and especially during the flood season. It should be mentioned that after the enforcement of the Cattle Protection Act 2021 in Assam, cow smuggling has been reduced to a large extent in the state. But still, the cow thief gangs and smuggler rackets are active in Assam. Police forces regularly arrest cow smugglers and thief rackets across the state. According to government data, 1,326 persons were arrested in 2022 involved in cow theft and smuggling. During this year, over 13,000 cattle, which were to be smuggled to Bangladesh, have been recovered.
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