22 Burmese cows rescued, Cachar police foils cattle smuggling bid

Silchar: The recovery of 22 suspected Burmese cows and 19 buffaloes in the last four days by the police from several places in Katigorah in south Assam’s Cachar district has given a strong indication of illegal cattle smuggling in the Barak Valley.

According to the police, the recovered animals were to be smuggled to Bangladesh.
According to available information, the police rescued 17 suspected Burmese cows from Lathimara on February 28. On March 1, five Burmese cows were rescued from Shantipur and 19 buffaloes from Tarinipur ONGC Road.

Lathimara, Shantipur and Tarinipur fall under Katigorah police station and are 20-30 km from Silchar city.
On detailed reports about the rescue operation, the police said that based on a tip-off, an operation was conducted in Lathimara and 17 suspected Burmese cows were found in a paddy field on February 28.

Necessary legal action was initiated by taking the cows to Katigorah Police Station. No one has been detained or arrested in connection with the case, police said.
Similarly, on March 1, the police conducted an operation in Shantipur and rescued five suspected Burmese cows, which were later taken to Katigorah police station. Police said that no one was detained or arrested in this connection.
On March 1, the police recovered 19 buffaloes from a vehicle on Tarinipur ONGC road at night. Both the driver and the assistant driver, hailing from Meghalaya, were arrested. During the investigation, the police came to know that these animals were to be smuggled to Bangladesh.

Cachar Superintendent of Police N Mahatto said, “After the recovery of 17 suspected Burmese cows, preliminary investigation into the case revealed that the animals were Burmese cows and were to be smuggled out of India. A cattle racket Smuggling is trying to operate from Cachar/Barak Valley to various places and raids are being conducted to track down all those involved in illegal activities.
Officer-in-charge of Katigorah police station NK Saikia said that operations will be conducted regularly to prevent smuggling of Burmese cows and other animals.
Saikia said the police would crack down on such rackets involving the illegal trade of Burmese cows and other animals through Katigorah. He said that he hoped that all those involved in illegal activities would soon be behind bars.
Complaints about the illegal transportation of Burmese cows from Myanmar through Barak Valley to Mizoram have been raised from various quarters for the past few months.

According to sources, who are aware of the development of the alleged animal smuggling, Burmese cattle are brought from Myanmar mostly through the Assam-Mizoram inter-state border areas to Barak valley in Hailakandi district and then smuggled into Bangladesh.
In Katigorah in Cachar district, racketeers charge Rs 4,000-5,000 per cow for helping cattle consignments pass safely through the route (Katigorah). Similar cattle-trafficking rackets also exist in Srikona and Salchapra areas. A cow is sold for between Rs 70,000 and Rs 1.20 lakh in the valley, people privy to the information claimed.
Earlier, cows were imported into Barak Valley from places like Lanka, Doboka and Adali (all in Assam), but the state government has imposed various restrictions on this. The final destination of most of the trafficked cows is Bangladesh, people aware of the development claimed.
The Barak Valley borders, including the river border, with neighboring Bangladesh in Cachar and Karimganj districts. Cachar district shares about 32 km long border with Bangladesh, while Karimganj district shares about 92 km long border with the country.
In October 2022, 18 Burmese cows were seized from a truck and three men were arrested at Sonabari Ghat in Cachar district. In the same month (last year), the police recovered eight Burmese cows from a vehicle and a man was detained in Dholai.
As per official records, the Assam Police registered more than 1,100 cases of cattle smuggling between May 2021 and May 2022. According to the data, the police arrested 992 smugglers, rescued more than 9400 cattle and confiscated 417 vehicles.