KOLKATA: In a desperate bid to smuggle cattle from India into Bangladesh through the porous riverine border along West Bengal, criminals are now using booby traps to maim or kill Border Security Force ( BSF ) personnel who attempt to thwart their efforts.

Early Wednesday, BSF jawans from border outpost Harudanga in Murshidabad, who got into a tributary of the Ganga to pull back cattle tied to banana plantains, found crude bombs attached to the necks of the animals.

"One wrong move and the bombs would explode, killing or seriously injuring any person in the vicinity. Pushing cattle into tidal rivers after tying them to banana plantains is a new strategy that the smugglers from Bangladesh and their associates from this side of the border have come up with. However, our troops have also been up to the task and used boats to pull back the cattle to the Indian side. On the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, we seized 365 heads of cattle from along the international border (IB) in the districts of Malda, Murshidabad, North 24-Parganas and Nadia," a senior BSF official from South Bengal Frontier said.

Discovery of crude bombs has prompted officials to direct jawans to be extremely careful while pulling the ropes with which cattle are tied to plantains. An official said it is like a minefield on which troops have to walk in the dark. While one animal may not have a bomb attached, the second may bring about death and destruction. A few weeks ago, Bangladeshi smugglers threw crude bombs at a BSF jawan and his right hand got blown off.

"The criminals are getting frustrated due to our concerted efforts. Large armed groups are trying to encircle our patrol parties and attack them," said another official.

The official elaborated on how a smuggling attempt was foiled near Bousmari in the Behrampore sector early on Thursday morning. "One smuggler slipped and fell after two stun grenades were thrown by BSF. When a jawan attempted to capture the fallen smuggler, his associate opened fire. The bullet hit the magazine tube of the pump action gun that the trooper was carrying," he said, adding that all these issues have been taken up with Border Guard Bangladesh, BSF's counterpart across the border.



In Video: Cattle thieves challenge BSF with booby traps