A new method of cattle smuggling to Bangladesh when rivers are in spate has been unearthed in three Bengal districts — tying the animals to banana tree trunks on either side and pushing them into the water so that they float with the currents to the neighbouring country.

In the past 24 hours, Border Security Force (BSF) personnel in Malda, Murshidabad and Nadia have rescued 261 heads of cattle from the Ganga and the Padma and arrested three suspected smugglers hailing from Bangladesh. Searches are on to arrest their associates who live at villages near the border.

BSF sources said personnel from the 78th battalion posted at border outposts in Sovapur, Malda, and Nimtita, Murshidabad had recently came to know that cattle smugglers, who lie low during monsoon, had devised a way to ensure there was no break in trade because of rains when the water levels in rivers rise.

“They are tying the cattle to trunks of banana trees placed on either side and pushing them into the river. As the cattle float across the river and reach the other side, smugglers in Bangladesh pull them out,” a source said.