SAHIWAL: An animal trader was arrested by the Okanwala Bangla Police for allegedly injecting livestock with narcotics to purchase them at reduced prices from the farmers at Chak 57/12-L. According to the complaint filed by Muhammad Iqbal, a resident of the village, Naveed, an animal trader, would secretly administer goats and sheep with narcotic injections, rendering them unconscious. He would then approach unsuspecting owners, offering a meagre sum to buy the sick animals. Report said Muhammad Iqbal, a friend of Naveed, had three goats worth Rs150,000. When they fell ill, Naveed offered a mere Rs4,000 for each. Iqbal refused and two of the goats died. The remaining goat was eventually sold to Naveed for Rs5,000. A similar fate befell Tanveer Hussain’s goat worth Rs80,000. Naveed offered a paltry Rs4,000 for the sick animal. Imran’s two goats, valued at Rs80,000, also fell ill but he refused to sell them to Naveed. Both goats died. Another animal farmer Muhammad Usman had a similar experience. One of his goats died, while the other was sold to Naveed for just Rs4,500. Muhammad Qasim’s two goats, worth Rs75,000, were purchased by Naveed for a mere Rs16,000.
Villagers grew concerned about the mysterious deaths of eight goats in three months while no disease outbreak was reported in the area. They realized that animals would fall ill or die shortly after Naveed’s visit. In some cases, the animals were purchased by Naveed at a fraction of their actual value. After getting suspicious, the villagers launched an investigation on their own, keeping track of Naveed. During investigation, they discovered that Naveed would inject the animals with a potent narcotic dose at night, causing them to become unconscious or even perish due to overdose. Later in the morning, when the animal would start lying down, he would rush to the owner’s place, making an offer to buy his goat for a meagre price. He would later sell the recovered animals at significantly higher prices in the market. After spotting his pattern villagers captured Naveed and handed him over to police who registered a case against him.
(Daily Dawn)
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