Cattle smuggling
A view of the seized cattle. Image credit - Northeast Now

Troops of the Border Security Force (BSF) have seized another 175 cattle heads along the Indo-Bangla border in Meghalaya, taking the total seizure to 699 cattle heads within a week.

The BSF Meghalaya Frontier in its continuous anti-smuggling drive has been foiling attempts of smugglers by making huge seizures on the international border after intensifying its extra vigil round the clock.

On Friday and in the wee hours of Saturday, the BSF troops acting swiftly on intelligence inputs seized 175 cattle heads along the international border in Meghalaya.

Also read: Cattle seized along Indo-Bangla border in Meghalaya

On Friday night, two special operations were carried out in East Jaiñtia Hills where BSF personnel of the Border Outpost at Jaliakhola and the Border Outpost at Kuliang seized 139 cattle heads in a jungle along the Indo-Bangladesh border.

These seized cattle heads were brought and concealed in thick foliage to be smuggled into Bangladesh.

Cattle smuggling
A view of the seized cattle. Image credit – Northeast Now
A view of the seized cattle. Image credit – Northeast Now

During the intervening night and the wee hours of Saturday, the BSF in various other operations seized 36 more cattle heads and a truck along the international border.

The seized cattle would cost Rs. 39.44 lakh.

It has been reported that most of the seized cattle were auctioned by the authorities a few days back and were probably taken over by miscreants/smugglers.

“Smugglers are desperate to smuggle cattle trying to take advantage of the gaps and vulnerable areas and the BSF has repeatedly foiling their attempts,” the BSF statement said.

It added that the BSF troops have countered the nefarious designs/mischievous adventures of the criminals by taking a series of offensive measures.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the BSF troops in Meghalaya seized 208 cattle heads worth around Rs 32.7 lakh.