Odisha: Cattle smugglers, police, vigilantes repeatedly clash, cases spike
Clashes between cattle traffickers, cops and vigilante groups have increased in the past two years with violence being reported in more than 60 % of the cases
On the night of March 19, a clash broke out in Odisha’s Balasore district between Bajrang Dal activists and alleged cow smugglers, resulting in vandalism of over 10 vehicles and a road blockade. The incident occurred when Bajrang Dal activists stopped a vehicle carrying dozens of cattle to West Bengal and claimed that they were attacked by the occupants of the vehicle with swords. By the time police arrived, the smugglers had escaped.
“By the time our force reached, the smugglers had escaped. We have now strengthened checking measures on roads to prevent further such incident,” Dibyajyoti Das, additional superintendent of police (SP) Balasore, said
A week before, on March 12, an encounter between armed cow smugglers and police took place near the Sambalpur railway station, resulting in injury to two cow smugglers. Sambalpur SP Mukesh Bhamoo said two suspected cattle smugglers from West Bengal, SK Manto Haque (34) and SK Arif (22), local cattle supplier Narendra Meher (29) from Sonepur and the truck driver Davinder Singh (25) from Punjab were arrested.
“As soon as the cops asked the truck to slow down, two people escorting the truck opened fire on the cops, triggering an exchange of fire. The two smugglers escorting the truck sustained bullet injuries in return fire,” Bhamoo said, adding that 30 cattle were rescued. A trailer truck, two country-made pistols, four bullets, a black SUV used as an escort vehicle, ₹15,000 cash and mobile phones were seized from the suspects.
On February 28, cow vigilantes from a local outfit in Balasore district clashed with traffickers transporting 50 cattle near the West Bengal border, leading to injuries to three vigilantes, one critically. Police later seized the abandoned vehicle and cattle. “We are still looking for the accused. Investigation is on,” said a senior police official of Balasore district.
Over the past six years, Odisha has witnessed a significant surge in illegal cattle trafficking. At least 2,000 cases have been registered in police stations across the state with some incidents of cattle smugglers attacking the police and cow vigilante groups being reported.
An officer from the state’s criminal investigation department (CID), who asked not to be named, said from 139 cases of illegal cattle trafficking lodged in 2019, the number has climbed over the years with 267 cases reported in 2020, 371 in 2021, 386 in 2022, 620 in 2023 and 630 in 2024. Over last two years, the clashes between cattle traffickers and cops and vigilante groups have gone up with violence being reported in more than 60 % of the cases, the officer said.
The number of rescued cattle has gone up too: in 2019, around 2,100 cattle were rescued while in 2020, the numbers went up to 5,565 in 2021. In 2022, 5790 cattle were rescued while in 2023, at least 9300 cattle were rescued. Last year, more than 10,000 cattle were rescued. The officer, quoted above, said in at least 30 cases in the last two years, investigators found that traffickers used armed guards for escorting the vehicles while keeping tab on police movements.
Odisha, which shares porous borders with West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand, has become a key transit hub for the illicit trade of cattle, often linked to organised crime networks, investigation into multiple cases has revealed after police officers joined the dot to explain the increase in cases. In October 2024, the Union ministry of environment and forest’s Animal Welfare Board alerted the Odisha government about cattle being trafficked from Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts to West Bengal and, via Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada and Koraput districts, to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
“The trade is lucrative, with middlemen and local agents organising the transport of cattle—often in cramped vehicles like pick-up vans, trucks, or containers—to maximize profit. Though exact amount of profit is not available, police officials said that for a truck carrying 25-30 cattle, the cattle traffickers may earn profit of ₹2.5-3 lakh per trip. In September 2018, 17 cattle were smuggled in a bogey of Puducherry-Howrah Express before being rescued by members of Gou Surakshya Samiti,” said a senior CID officer who tracks and investigates cow trafficking cases.
The CID officer quoted above said that the traffickers appoint agents across districts to collect stray cows and bulls and guard them at one place, even inside forests. “During the interception of vehicles on roads, it became evident that large numbers of cattle were being hidden in the forest for smuggling purposes,” Prateek Singh, Cuttack (rural) SP, said.
“The smugglers are using the national highways, including NH-55,-53 and 149 which run through the district connecting Angul, Sambalpur, Jajpur, Cuttack, Balasore and Kolkata. The NH 55 and 53 are lifelines for illegal transportation of cattle,” said Himanshu Lal, northern range Inspector General of Police.
In Odisha, Bajrang Dal and Go Surakhya Samiti are active in trying to stop cow smugglers, which sometimes have led to violence. “Our people have been trying to stop illegal trafficking of cattle, often facing immense risk, but police are hardly cooperative. The actual scale of cattle trafficking is much bigger as the traffickers either manage to bribe the cops or give slip to the officials,” said Santosh Kumar Bhoi, state president of Sanatani Keshariya Hindu Vahini, a cow vigilante group.
To be sure, cattle can be transported to other state under Transport of Animals Rules, 2016 of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, but a valid certificate from a veterinary officer is necessary and vehicles transporting the animals have to have enough space and be properly ventilated. Besides, the person who is transporting the animals has to carry fast-aid equipment, water, feed and fodder for the animals. In most cases, these requirements are not met, a CID officer said.
Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act overloading cattle into vehicles, denying them food or water, or causing injury enroute (common trafficking practices) are punishable up to three months imprisonment or ₹500 fine. Besides, Section 325 of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita can be applied for maiming of cattle, section 61(2) of BNS for criminal conspiracy and section 303 for theft. The state also has Odisha Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1960 that bans cow slaughter and imposes penalties, but enforcement has been lax.
The Odisha government in December last year said it will introduce a stricter legislation against cow slaughter and trafficking with chief minister Mohan Majhi announcing that the existing Odisha Cow Slaughter Act, 1960, which currently prescribes up to two years of rigorous imprisonment for offenders, will be amended to enhance the punishment.
The BJP in its manifesto for the Odisha assembly election last year had promised to implement an anti-cow slaughter law to stop illegal slaughter and trade of cows and implement a Govansha Surakshya Yojana to promote cow protection by establishing govt-aided goshala in all the 314 blocks in the state. “A stringent law is needed to prohibit slaughter, illegal transport, and preserve cattle breeds while organising agriculture and animal husbandry,” said BJP MLA Santosh Khatua.
