A self-proclaimed cow vigilante, Rahul Singh, was booked for allegedly being involved in cow slaughter in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh News: A self-proclaimed ‘Gau Rakshak’ or cow vigilante, along with four of his aides, was booked by the Bareilly police for his alleged involvement in cow slaughter. The matter came to light after he was found present with three alleged cow smugglers who were arrested by the police following an encounter.

According to the police, the accused, identified as Rahul Singh, was found present along with three cow smugglers– who were nabbed following an encounter with the police in Bareilly district on Friday.

Singh, who is the district “president” of the Bareilly chapter of the Gauraksha Karni Sena– a self-proclaimed ‘cow-protection’ group involved in alleged cases of cow vigilantism– was found accompanying the accused cow smugglers, the police said on Saturday.

Singh is currently on the run and a manhunt has been launched to arrest him, they said.

A senior police officer said based on information, a police team arrived in the Bhojipura area of Bareilly where Rahul Singh, along with four others, was allegedly slaughtering cows near the Devaraniya river.

The police besieged the area and asked the accused men to surrender, however, they refused and instead opened fire on the police personnel prompting retaliation, Circle Officer Harsh Modi told news agency PTI.

“The police fired in retaliation and nabbed three persons — Mohammad Saeed Khan, Devendra Kumar and Akram — after the encounter,” Officer Modi told news agency PTI.

The officer said that Rahul Singh and another person managed to flee the spot and efforts are underway to arrest him, adding that the equipment used for slaughtering cows and a tempo was seized from the arrested trio.

An FIR was registered against the five persons, including Rahul Singh, at the Bhojipura police station here on Saturday under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Mukesh Chandra Mishra said.

Further investigation into the case is underway, SP Mishra said.

(With PTI inputs)