Stray bull charges in Greater Noida park, child escapes, uncle gored

NOIDA: A five-year-old child escaped with minor injuries while his maternal uncle was hospitalised after a stray bull attacked them near C Block Park in Sector Beta 1, Greater Noida, on Monday evening.

The incident occurred around 7 pm when Pratham Chandra, 30, was taking his nephew Riyan, 5, for an evening walk near the park. CCTV footage showed a stray bull suddenly charging at the child, prompting Pratham to intervene, but the animal turned on him, trampling him with its hooves and goring him with its horns."His shirt and trousers were torn, and he suffered injuries to the abdomen and head. We admitted him to a private hospital where CT scan and X-ray reports revealed multiple injuries," said Ramesh Chandra, father of Pratham Chandra.

Riyan escaped with wounds on his left arm, forehead, and right hand. Passersby raised an alarm, and local residents rushed to the spot, managing to drive the animal away and rescue the victims.Family members and local residents complained that stray cattle roam freely in the sector and should be shifted to cow shelters for public safety. Sectors such as Alpha 1, Beta 1, and Delta 2 in Greater Noida face similar problems, with residents calling the menace a daily nuisance.

Rajesh Gautam, senior manager of the Greater Noida Authority, said the matter came to their notice, and four teams were sent to catch stray cattle from different locations and take them to shelter homes.

"The teams are working to remove all the strays from public places," he said.Greater Noida Authority operates two cow shelters - one in Jalpura village with over 3,500 cattle and another in Pauvari housing around 1,000.

Stray cattle continue to pose a significant problem across several areas in Noida, including the Noida Expressway, DSC Road, Udyog Marg, Sector 37, and near the Botanical Garden, where they are often seen wandering on roads, occupying footpaths, disrupting traffic flow, clashing with each other, and scattering roadside garbage while foraging for food.Over the past months, they were also involved in several road accidents in Noida and Greater Noida. In July last year, three people were killed and nine injured in Greater Noida’s Ecotech 3 area after two cars collided, one overturning in an attempt to avoid hitting a stray animal. In May this year, a herd of buffaloes took over the Noida Elevated Road, a high-speed corridor that links Sectors 18 and 60, leaving commuters to carefully manoeuvre their way past the animals.