Five cows perished and ten others were injured in the Sarsaram area of Patna, the capital of Bihar, after the truck carrying them flipped over on GT Road on Tuesday.
The cows were being trafficked, say the locals. They even apprehended a person named Dipak Kumar and turned him over to the police.
According to Sasaram Mufassil sub inspector Vikrama Kumar, police rescued the injured cows, who are being treated with the help of the animal husbandry department.
The cows were loaded in Khurmabad area of Rohtas in Bihar by the alleged smugglers, who were from Uttar Pradesh, and they were headed to West Bengal.
Kumar said that the police registered a case under the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act against the truck owner, driver, cleaner, and smugglers and were also conducting raids for their arrest.
As per the 1955 Act, smuggling and cow slaughter are prohibited in Bihar.