Thane: The crime branch has claimed to have busted a major inter-state racket of vehicle and cattle theft after the arrest of eight men.The crime branch unit 1 stumbled upon the racket while investigating a robbery case in which an Ahmednagar resident was waylaid by the men near Kharegaon toll naka earlier this month. “The victim was robbed of Rs 35,000 cash and beaten up by the men, who drove away in his car, the loss collectively amounting to Rs 4.42 lakh,” said a police official.A team of police officers received a tip-off that some of the men were holed up in Gulbarga. The racket was exposed and the cops arrested others involved as well while some are believed to be absconding, said the official.“During the probe it was revealed that the gang was involved in smuggling bulls as well as other cattle by taking out the back seat and stuffing the cattle in an inhuman manner and then smuggling them to slaughter houses to earn money,” added a cop. The cop also added that during probe it was found that the accused would pick roadside cattle that go unnoticed.A source revealed that the men have smuggled more than 200 cattle, which went unnoticed as such thefts are not registered anywhere. Also, the cattle used to be stuffed in small cars, which never looked suspicious, said a cop.

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