Security forces in Assam seize 300 cattle heads being smuggled to Bangladesh

Illegal cattle smuggling is on the rise along the India-Bangladesh border despite the deployment of adequate security forces. Reports have come to light of cattle smuggling rackets operating in border areas in and around Assam's South Salmara Mankachar and Dhubri districts.

Cattle smugglers have managed to engage in this trade concerning the illegal supply of cattle to Bangladesh using the Brahmaputra River.

In the last 72 hours, security forces have seized nearly 300 cattle heads resulting in the arrest of three smugglers in the South Salmara Mackachar and Dhubri districts.

The police department in South Salmara Mackachar came across as many as 17 cattle heads and arrested a smuggler from Sutramara village along the Indo-Bangladesh border on Wednesday night. A police team had reportedly launched an operation and caught smugglers from Sutramara attempting to smuggle cattle to Bangladesh through the river.

Officials have identified the arrested smuggler as one Shahid Ali.

On the other hand, the Border Security Force (BSF) and police personnel posted in South Salmara Mankachar and Dhubri districts managed to seize at least 280 cattle heads from different areas along the Indo-Bangladesh border in the last 72 hours. Earlier, BSF personnel had seized 152 cattle heads from Borairalga Char area in South Salmara Mankachar district on Tuesday night.

According to the reports, BSF has seized over 20,000 cattle heads along the India-Bangladesh border in Assam and Meghalaya over the last 18 months.