MEGHALAYA: Troops of the Border Security Force (BSF) have apprehended three Indian cattle smugglers and seized two cows near the zero line of the India-Bangladesh border in East Khasi Hills in Meghalaya. Troops in West Jaintia Hills district on the other hand seized 16 cows meant for smuggling out to Bangladesh.
Official sources in the BSF Meghalaya Frontier headquarters in Shillong said the three smugglers were trying to smuggle out the cows to Meghalaya. The three, who were later handed over to the police have been identified as Ramesh Marak, Judia Sangma and Puthit Sangma, all residents of a border village called Kasinda in East Khasi Hills district.
While cattle smuggling to Bangladesh has been on the rise particularly through Dhubri district in western Assam, smugglers have been also using routes through Meghalaya to send out large number of cattle to the neighbouring countries.
Earlier this month, a Commission appointed by the Supreme Court had quoted BSF figures and said that cattle worth Rs 13.80 crores were smuggled out through Dhubri sector in Assam alone between January and September this year.
This was a phenomenal rise in comparison to cattle worth Rs 1.89 crore smuggled out through the same sector in the whole of 2014.
