The Border Security Force on Monday exposed a cruel method of smuggling adopted by cow smugglers along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal after they retrieved a live calf tied up and hidden inside a carcass floating in the river.
According to the officials, a river patrol of the border-guarding force took notice of a drifting carcass in the Mahananda river in the Malda district on Sunday, and on investigation found a live cattle inside it.
“When the carcass of the animal was cut open, a calf whose legs were tied with ropes and eyes covered with a piece of cloth was recovered,” the BSF said.
The BSF further added that the carcass was strapped with water hyacinth (a type of water grass) and banana trunk to keep it afloat. The nose of the animal was visible from a perforation made in the carcass, the BSF official revealed.
“Cow smugglers along the border have started embracing the cruellest and ruthless methods of smuggling the cattle across and along the border,” the BSF said, adding that the force has “intensified its vigil” to uncover the unconventional and new methods adopted by the cow smugglers amidst the monsoons when the rivers are in spate and the smugglers use it to their advantage to aggressively transport the cattle to the Bangladesh side.
The operation was carried out by the troops of the 44th battalion of the Border Security Forces entrusted with the responsibility of patrolling the India-Bangladesh border in the region. Talking about its strategy to guard the border, the BSF said that the South Bengal Frontier of the BSF keeps a vigil along the 900 kilometres of the border, backed by a robust strategy and reliable intelligence inputs. The total length of the India-Bangladesh border is about 4,096 KMs. A senior BSF officer also asserted that the force is in contact with the local police for effective coordination to stop the menace of smuggling along the front.
Eight smugglers with nine cattle heads caught along Assam-Bangladesh border
In a separate case, eight cattle smugglers along with nine cattle heads were nabbed by the Border Security Force from Assam South Salmara Mankachar district along Indo-Bangladesh border.
As per reports, acting on specific inputs, the BSF officials positioned at Sishumara and Boreralga border outpost carried out an operation along the riverine areas along the India-Bangladesh border on Sunday night and apprehended six cattle smugglers. A top BSF officials disclosed that the BSF had retrieved six cattle heads while the arrested persons were trying to smuggle cattle to Bangladesh.
The arrested cattle smugglers were identified as Meher Saiful Haque, Rafiqul Islam, Rafiqul Islam, Safidur Islam, Mohammad After Ali, and Nuruddin and they all hailed from South Salmara Mankachar District.
In yet another operation, the BSF officials had arrested two more cattle smugglers along with three cattle heads near Brahmaputra riverine areas of Sishumura when they were trying to illegally transport the cattle to Bangladesh.