india

Updated: Feb 23, 2019 10:51 IST

In a first of its kind, the Border Security Force (BSF) apprehended five smugglers who were trying to smuggle 300 kg beef valued at Rs. 90,000 to Bangladesh from Muktapur in Meghalaya’s West Jaiñtia Hills district late Thursday evening.

Meghalaya shares a 443 km stretch of the international border with Bangladesh.

Confirming that this is the first time that such activity has been detected along the Indo-Bangladesh border, a senior officer who did not wish to be named said it was alarming that smugglers are not only trying to smuggle cattle into the neighbouring country but are now attempting to transport even beef.

“One of the main reasons for this new method is that after increased vigil by our personnel and introduction of state of the art surveillance equipment etc., smugglers and criminals are finding it difficult to evade us and often have to try new routes and terrain which are quite challenging and takes its toll on the cattle’s health,” the officer said.

In this instance, he said four Bangladeshi smugglers had crossed over to India to take over a consignment only to realise that the cattle were injured after an arduous journey to the border.

“So instead of returning home empty handed, they decided to slaughter the cattle on Indian soil and then attempted to smuggle the meat to Bangladesh as a last ditch effort,” the officer said. “Now the smugglers are finding it more difficult to evade us and so they have to look for other options desperately.”

BSF Meghalaya Frontier Inspector General Kuldeep Saini congratulated the troopers for busting teh smuggling racket.

“Most often, the western frontier is in the limelight, but let me tell you our boys here at the eastern front are no less and I want to reassure you that the nation’s frontiers are safe under the watch of the BSF as well as other agencies,” Saini said.

He also expressed happiness that the porous borders will be further plugged with fencing work commencing. “Government of India has begun the exercise of erecting fencing along the international border under my frontier at huge costs to the public exchequer and I believe this will pay great dividends and augment our efforts to ensure a safe and sanitised international border at all times,” he asserted.

The four Bangladeshi smugglers have been identified as Noor Islam (45 yrs), Abdul Kalam (18 yrs), Kamal Miya (38 yrs) all from Sylhet district and Shwel Ahmed (26 yrs) from Netrakona district of Bangladesh. The lone Indian smuggler has been identified as Samiwell Lyngdoh (49 yrs) from Muktapur village.

PHOTO CAPTION

The four Bangladeshi smugglers apprehended by BSF personnel on Thursday. HT PHOTO