Kolkata residents and morning walkers stopped a speeding truck on Keshav Chandra Sen Street in north Kolkata early on Tuesday after alleging that it was endangering pedestrians. Police later found 22 cattle crammed into the vehicle and began searching for the driver, his helper and two suspected escorts who fled the spot.
The incident took place around 4 am near Bidhan Sarani, outside a Bank of Baroda branch. According to a complaint lodged by a 53-year-old local resident, the truck was being driven recklessly through the narrow road when residents intervened to prevent it from escaping.
Residents damaged the truck during the intervention, but the driver and helper managed to flee. Two other people allegedly accompanying the vehicle on a scooter also abandoned the two-wheeler and escaped. Local residents detained two suspected handlers associated with the truck before it was taken to Jorasanko police station.
Police found cows and oxen packed into the truck’s cargo compartment without adequate space or ventilation, according to the report. The occupants allegedly did not have valid documents for transporting the animals. The cattle were subsequently rescued, while the truck and the abandoned scooter were seized for investigation.
Jorasanko police suspect that the animals may have been collected from city streets and were being transported to a slaughterhouse. That possibility remains part of the police investigation, and the report does not establish the final destination of the cattle.
The episode also brought attention to the risks created when heavy vehicles move through densely built, narrow city roads during early-morning hours. Keshav Chandra Sen Street and the surrounding Bidhan Sarani area carry pedestrians, local traffic and commercial activity, leaving limited space for evasive movement when a vehicle is driven at speed.
Police registered a case following the resident’s complaint and launched a search for the driver, helper and the two scooter-borne suspects. The investigation will also examine the vehicle’s documents, the ownership and custody of the cattle, and the circumstances under which the animals were being transported.
