Jammu: A person has been arrested on charges of bovine smuggling and rioting, and booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) in South Kashmir's Kulgam district, an official said today.  

The police arrested Abdul Rashid of Samba yesterday from the Damhal Hanjipora belt in the district. He is a noted criminal and a bovine smuggler, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Samba Anil Magotra said. He is accused of rioting, causing hurt to people, causing wrongful confinement, fabricating evidence, giving false statements, being used as an agent to trigger riots, fabricating evidence and bovine smuggling, the officer said. 

Rashid is wanted in several cases lodged in different police stations in the region, the SSP said.   He is part of a large network of bovine smugglers which operates in the valley as well as in other regions of the state, he said.  

In May, he and one of his accomplices had thrashed a taxi driver and looted his vehicle, Magotra said, adding that Rashid has been booked under the Public Safety Act. He is lodged in the Sub-District Jail, Hiranagar, he added. PTI