3 cattle transporters died after...: Chhattisgarh police

Three men, who were transporting cattle last month in Chhattisgarh's Raipur district, died when they jumped off a river bridge after being chased for more than 50km in cars by a group of people and there was no assault on them, the police have said in a chargesheet filed in the case.

The chargesheet submitted in a Raipur court on July 8 claimed the trio, who was in a truck, was chased by five accused in cars for 53km before they jumped off the bridge, the police sources said on Wednesday.

In the wee hours of June 7, two cattle transporters, Guddu Khan (35) and Chand Miya Khan (23), died under suspicious circumstances after being allegedly chased by a mob in the Arnag police station area of the district, the police had earlier said.

Their associate, Saddam Qureshi, suffered injuries in the incident and succumbed in a Raipur hospital on June 18.

The three men, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, were spotted below the bridge on the Mahanadi river in the Arang area, while their truck with buffaloes was found parked on the bridge.

The Arang police had then lodged an FIR in the connection with case under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC against unidentified persons.

After the death of Qureshi, the police said his post-mortem report did not mention homicidal injuries and dropped the murder attempt charge.

The police then constituted a 14-member special team headed by Raipur additional superintendent of police (Rural) Kirtan Rathore to probe the case.

The police later arrested five persons from different places and filed the chargesheet against them under section 304 of the IPC.

The chargesheet stated, "All five accused got information about a vehicle possibly engaged in transportation of cattle. The accused in three cars chased the truck and tried to stop it by throwing iron spikes-embedded wooden strip and pieces of glass on vehicle. The truck driver also drove on the wrong side for about 14 km in a bid to escape but the accused continued chasing them. The truck finally stopped over the bridge on Mahanadi river after one of its tyres got damaged due to iron spikes and stones pelted by the accused."

Out of fear, the trio (the deceased) got down from the vehicle and jumped off the bridge into the river in a bid to save their lives, it said.