GUWAHATI: On Thursday, a 12-wheeler truck carrying cattle was stopped and seized at the Jorabat junction by a team of police from Jorabat OP under Basistha PS in East Guwahati Police District (EGPD).
As per sources, the culprits were trying to smuggle 28 heads of cattle into Byrnihat, which were brought from Bezera, Kamrup. A person identified as Md Rajmul Ali, a local of the Sipajhar region, was taken into custody.
"An EGPD team from Jorabat OP of Basistha PS intercepted a 12-wheeler truck (AS01 JC 4322) at Jorabat junction tonight, when it was trying to smuggle 28 cattle into Byrnihat, brought from Bezera, Kamrup. One Md Rajmul Ali of Sipajhar was arrested. Legal action has been initiated," a tweet from Guwahati Police read.
Assam Police stopped another smuggling attempt earlier this month and extricated 34 cattle heads from a bus in Nagaon district.
Police set up a Naka checkpoint after receiving information that animals were being trafficked in Kaliabor area. 34 cattle heads were discovered by police after stopping a car in the Missa neighbourhood, close to Kaliabor. The driver and others fled the scene, nevertheless, when they saw the police team arrive.
"We had set up a Naka checkpoint in front of the Missa police outpost on confidential information, and we stopped a car. The bus driver and other people fled the scene when they saw our squad. We searched the bus and discovered 34 cattle heads. The bus was travelling toward Meghalaya from the Jakhalabandha side, "stated a police officer.
In the Borghat area of the Nagaon district, the Assam Police also detained four cattle smugglers and found nine cattle heads.
In India, cattle smuggling has grown into a persistent issue. In a recent story, it was revealed by Samir Kumar Mitra, former DIG, BSF who made a deliberate attempt for approximately two and a half years to apprehend livestock smugglers at the Eastern border after being accused of bribery. The animals are shipped in from several states like Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Jharkhand. The traffickers travel between 1,500 and 2,000 miles, mostly in trucks and pickup vans, and do so covertly and with forged documents. Authorities at the border assert that these are, however, infrequently intercepted or seized in transit.
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