Lucknow, December 27: Four cow smugglers were arrested by Police in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar on Wednesday. According to a tweet by ANI, the smugglers were arrested from Nirdhna area of the city. Om Veer Singh, SP City informed that the accused had fired at the police when they were hunting for the smugglers. "The accused had fired at the police party which went in search for the smugglers. Weapons, cow meat & cow skin have been recovered. Four others escaped from the site", Singh said.

Earlier this month, a total of 10 smugglers were caught with 500 kg cow meat from Pilibhit area of Uttar Pradesh. According to reports, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had ordered strict actions against those involved in cow slaughter after the recent Bulandshahar incident.

The incident comes days after the carcasses of 25 cows were recovered in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandsheher leading to violence. A police inspector was killed in clashes with a group of protesters in Bulandshahr's Syana in Uttar Pradesh over reports of cow slaughter. Bulandshahr Violence Post Ijtema Pre-Planned? Cow Remains Left in Open to Trigger Communal Tension, Says Report. 

Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh had reportedly tried to control mob violence that erupted after the cow carcasses were found in the forests close to a police post. One of the protesting civilians was also killed in the clashes.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 27, 2018 08:51 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).