Flood fuels cattle smuggling to Bangladesh through Assam, Bengal borders

The severe flood Assam is currently facing seems to have become an advantage for cattle smugglers using the unfenced stretch of the India-Bangladesh borders to pump in cattle heads to the neighbouring country ahead of Eid celebrations.

This came to light after BSF personnel seized over 200 cattle while being smuggled to Bangladesh on boats in Dhubri, South Salmara in West Assam and Coochbehar in neighbouring North Bengal on July 24 and 25.

A total of 110 cattle was seized during an operation by BSF on July 25, when smugglers were using the waterways of the Brahmaputra river in Dhubri, which was flowing above the danger level even on Monday. "As floods have inundated large areas and it was difficult to patrol the unfenced river border, smugglers are trying to take advantage of the situation. The smugglers are well acquainted with the area and are good in using the waterways. But we are also trying to make sure that they can't take advantage of the situation and smuggle cattle heads, drugs or any other items," a source in BSF's Guwahati frontier, which looks after the Dhubri and Coochbehar border told DH on Monday.

"Cattle smuggling goes up ahead of Eid every year," he further said.

Another 107 cattle were also seized during operations in the three districts on July 24.

Over 22 lakh people remained affected by floods in 22 districts in Assam on Monday and 103 people have died so far this year.

Smuggling of cattle, psychotropic drugs and narcotics is rampant through the India-Bangladesh borders in Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and North Bengal. The cattle procured from different parts of the country are smuggled through the borders, which ultimately makes their way to the beef processing and tannery industry in Bangladesh. Sources said apart from meeting the local demand for beef, Bangladesh exports a large amount of processed meat to West Asian and Arabian countries.