Written by Bhupendra PandeyLucknow | November 19, 2025 01:48 PM IST 2 min readThree of the accused were injured and admitted to the hospital (representational image)Six cattle smugglers were arrested following an exchange of fire with a police team in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district on Tuesday. Three of the accused sustained gunshot injuries to their legs, police said.The team recovered six cows and calves from a van belonging to the accused, which were allegedly being transported to Bihar for slaughter, police claimed.Deputy SP Shekhar Sengar, who is the Circle Officer (CO) of the City area, said the accused were identified as Mohammad Suhel Khan, Shashikant Rana, Yuvraj Kumar, Ranjit Kumar, Ajeet Yadav and Sarvesh Yadav. While Khan belongs to Bihar’s Gaya, the others are from UP.SP Ghazipur, Iraj Raja, told The Indian Express that the cattle smugglers were arrested during routine patrolling on the Varanasi-Gorakhpur highway by policemen from different police stations and a SWAT team late Tuesday evening. Three of the accused were injured and admitted to the hospital, he added.Sengar told The Indian Express that the SHO of Birno police station was patrolling with his men when he spotted a pickup van and an SUV speeding on the highway.The SHO followed the vehicles and waved to the drivers, asking him to stop. However, they sped off towards the Jangipur area. The SHO alerted the Station Officer (SO) of Jangipur police station about the suspicious vehicles, Sengar said.He further said the SO, who was already patrolling in the area along with the SWAT team, spotted the vehicles driving towards them and flagged them down. But the occupants did not stop. Finding themselves surrounded from both sides, they opened fire at the police teams near Rasoolabad crossing, Sengar added.Story continues below this adHe said the police teams retaliated, firing at the miscreants and overpowering them. The police found that three accused sustained injuries to their legs while trying to flee. When the van was checked, the team found cattle inside, he said.During questioning, the CO said, it was revealed that the cattle were being taken to Bihar. He said they are collecting details of criminal antecedents of all the accused.The accused will be produced in court later today, the CO said.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:lucknowUttar Pradesh