India is mobilising police to take on a new threat on Indian roads - stray cattle.

A large team of officers stepped out on the night of January 8 in Amethi in North India and started rounding up stray animals.

As the animals fled from the invading force, the cops ran behind them, stumbling and picking themselves up during the chase.

One officer, who pulled out his pistol in frustration, was restrained by a colleague.

District magistrate Shakuntala Gautam said: “We caught 50 animals in the night. They will be shifted to a shelter.”

The exercise is being repeated across several cities, especially in Uttar Pradesh, which are reeling under the stray cattle menace.

The ruling Hindu nationalist government in India has banned cow slaughter on religious grounds. As the trade in aged and unproductive cattle, has come to a halt many are abandoning them.

Stray cows have become a menace - from raiding standing crops to causing accidents on roads.

After an outcry by citizens, many state governments have begun to send police after the stray cows.