Protests after truck carrying carcasses overturns in Delhi

A truck carrying dead cattle, mostly cows, overturned in east Delhi’s Ghazipur area late on Thursday night, leading to protests by several angry locals in the area and causing snarls on National Highway 24.

The truck was on South Municipal Corporation of Delhi (SDMC) duty, collecting dead animals from across the city and transporting them to the ‘carcass utilisation and rendering plant’ in Ghazipur, a SDMC official said. Deputy commissioner of police (east) Pankaj Singh said the truck was ferrying carcasses when one of its rear tyres burst causing the vehicle to overturn. The accident took place around 11.30pm on a carriageway going towards Ghaziabad. The truck driver fled the scene immediately after the accident.

After the accident, around 30 carcasses tumbled out of the truck, sparking rumours in the area that a bunch of cattle smugglers were ferrying cows for illegal slaughter and some animals had died after the vehicle overturned. More than a hundred residents from Ghazipur and Khichripur collected on the road later and blocked traffic, leading to a kilometre-long jam on the carriageway for more than an hour.

A police officer said the control room received information about the incident at 11.40pm, after which the local police reached the spot and informed the civic agency as well as the fire department about it. An additional force of around 100 police personnel were also rushed in to maintain law and order when locals started gathering on the road and began protesting .“The area was cordoned off for a brief period during which the truck as well as the dead animals were removed from the road. A fire tender sprayed water and cleaned the road. Normal traffic movement was restored and the situation brought under control by 1 am,” said the officer.

Police said the locals the spot after they were convinced that no livestock were killed in the accident and the truck was on SDMC duty carrying dead animals to the carcass utilization and rendering plant.