Jamshedpur, Oct 25 (PTI) Twenty-one heads of cattle that were being transported for smuggling were on Tuesday rescued in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum district, and the driver of the vehicle was arrested, a police officer said.

Based on input, a police team launched a drive and intercepted a tanker on way to West Bengal from Odisha, at Baharagora, 90 km from here, the police officer said.

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On seeing the law enforcers, the driver made an abortive attempt to flee but was caught, Officer-in-Charge of Baharagora police station, Santan Kumar Tiwary said.

Two carcasses were also found inside the tanker.

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The recovered cattle were shifted to a cow shed at Chakulia, 35 km from Baharagora.

Post-mortem examination of the dead animals was conducted in the presence of a veterinary doctor.

The two bovine animals were suspected of having died of suffocation.

Tiwary said, “We had concrete information about the tanker crossing the Baharagora area today and therefore launched the drive in the early hours ”.

The police officer said that the driver, Sheikh Miraj, a resident of Bhadrak in Odisha, has provided the names of others involved in the illegal trade.

“The police have started an investigation to apprehend them,” Tiwary said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)