The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) yesterday nabbed the alleged kingpin of a cattle smuggling racket being run along the India-Bangladesh border. The culprit identified as Enamul Haque is from West Bengal and was arrested by the CBI in Delhi. A Border Security Force (BSF) officer was also reportedly arrested with Haque.
According to reports, the central investigative agency has raided the offices of two chartered accountants in Kolkata on Thursday in connection with the case. Satish Kumar, former commandant of the 36BSF battalion now posted in Raipur, Enamul Haque, Anarul SK and Mohammad Golam Mustafa have been booked by the CBI.
It is alleged that the cattle smugglers have been bribing the BSF official to ensure that the smuggling racket ran smoothly. Haque has been out of bail after the CBI arrested him in March 2018 for allegedly bribing another BSF Commandant Jibu T Mathew. Mathew was nabbed at Alappuzha railway station in January 2018 in possession of cash to the tune of Rs 47 lakh.
CBI raids in West Bengal
In the month of September, the CBI had conducted multiple raids at multiple locations in Kolkata and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal in a bid to unearth the nexus involved in the rampant illegal cattle trade happening along the India-Bangladesh border. Raids were also conducted at various locations at Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, Amritsar in Punjab and Raipur in Chhattisgarh.
The security agencies have tightened the noose around the cattle smuggling trade going on along the India-Bangladesh border. However, the smugglers keep innovating new techniques to smuggle the cattle without being caught by the security agencies.
In the month of June this year, the BSF had 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. The smugglers reportedly tie socket bombs to the necks of the cattle while smuggling them to cause physical harm to the forces when they are caught.
In April this year, the BSF had informed that the infiltration and smuggling of cattle, gold, marijuana, fake Indian currency notes (FICN) through the porous 2,216.7 km India-Bangladesh border had witnessed a sharp decline due to the outbreak of the Wuhan virus.