Assam police open fire at Bangladeshi cattle smugglers near international border

The Assam police seized the herd of cattle, however, the Bangladeshi smugglers managed to escape, officials said

A team from the Assam police chased two Bangladeshi cattle smugglers on near the international border and fired some rounds of bullets when they tried to attack on Tuesday night. The team seized the herd of cattle, however, the smugglers managed to escape.

Police said the cattle smugglers took advantage of the deep forest to escape. (Sourced)

The incident happened at Baliabasti area which falls under the Nilambazar police station. According to the police, the area is around one kilometre from the India-Bangladesh international border.

Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) of Karimganj district, Gitartha Sarma said that based on specific information, they launched an operation to catch the suspected Bangladeshi smugglers near the international border.

“Two Bangladeshi cattle smugglers entered on Tuesday night and we almost caught them. However, they attacked on our officials and attempted to escape. We had to fire several rounds of bullets,” Sarma said.

He said that the smugglers could be carrying weapons and the police used bullets before the smugglers could attack.

According to the DSP, the smugglers took advantage of the deep forest to escape. “We recovered the cows but unfortunately the smugglers fled. The matter is being investigated,” he said.

A team of police again visited the area on Wednesday morning to investigate further. The officials said that some local residents were supporting the Bangladeshi smugglers.

“It is obvious that some locals were helping the smugglers coming from another country. We have identified some of them and further investigation is going on,” the DSP said.

According to the police, the Bangladeshi smugglers managed to cross the international border easily by using canals and cutting the border fence as well.

“It’s a hill area with dense forest. There could be artificial canals built by smugglers. Also they could cut the fence somewhere,” Sarma said.

Cattle smuggling through international border has become a common issue in Karimganj, which shares a large border with Bangladesh.

Several Bangladeshi nationals were arrested in the past while smuggling cattle. Two years ago, three Bangladeshi nationals were beaten to death in the district. The Karimganj administration revealed that the deceased persons were suspected cattle smugglers from the neighbouring nation who entered into Indian territory illegally.