Jaipur, Jul 31 (IANS): While the Rajasthan government tabled a Bill in the Assembly on Tuesday to curb mob lynching, an alleged cow smuggler was caught, thrashed and handed over to the police at Kathumar village in the Alwar district.

According to villagers, caught red-handed the cow smugglers fired at villagers, injuring two of them severely. The enraged villagers caught Salim, one of the cow smugglers, thrashed him before handing him over to the police.

The police admitted them to a hospital.

On Wednesday morning, Inspector General of Police (Jaipur Range) S. Sengthar and Superintendent of Police Paris Deshmukh visited the hospital and inquired about the incident.

The villagers told them they saw three youths walking along with cattle in the village. As the villagers tried to stop them, they opened fire, which hit Ramjeet Gurjar and Jeetram Gurjar. It infuriated villagers and they chased and caught one of them.

"They were smuggling stray cattle. When villagers chased them, they fired on them. Villagers later bashed Salem, one of the smugglers. Salem earlier looked severely injured, but medical tests didn't specify any serious injury.

"Cases have been registered against the three under relevant sections. A complaint has also been filed by Salem against villagers for manhandling him," Sengthar told IANS.

Meanwhile, cattle theft continue to bother residents of Alwar.

Vijay Kumar, a resident of Behror in the Alwar district, said, in four months 36 cattle have been stolen from their houses. "Despite constant reminders to the police, no action has been taken. The police take action only when we thrash the smugglers.

"It seems they are willingly giving us a chance to involve in mob lynching by doing nothing to check cattle smuggling."

In the past, Pehlu Khan was lynched here by cow vigilants when he was smuggling cattle in a pickup. Later, Rakbar alias Akbar was thrashed while shifting cattle. He was handed over to the police, which took him to hospital where he succumbed to injuries.