TURA: Border Security Force personnel on night vigil along the international border with Bangladesh in the Garo Hills sector reportedly had to open blank fire in the air to dispel a group of armed cattle smugglers who had crossed over from the neighbouring country to smuggle out cattle from India taking advantage of the darkness on Thursday night.
Over two dozen Bangladeshi nationals trespassed into India through an unfenced sector in Balughat village of Mahendraganj in South West Garo Hills district in the dead of night ostensibly to smuggle a large herd of cattle which had been kept confined in another part of the border by their Indian collaborators.
The large group of armed intruders, said to be carrying lethal weapons including machetes and sticks, had barely entered the Indian territory when they were detected by a BSF patrol on duty near Balughat village.
On being challenged the intruders attempted to scare away the border guards by their sheer numbers.
They also threw rocks and sticks in the direction of the guards leading to one jawan sustaining a minor injury. Witnessing the attempts by the intruders to challenge them, the border guards opened fire in the air from their service rifles forcing them to flee back into Bangladesh territory without getting their hands on the cattle from India.
Cattle smugglers have been targetting the isolated and porous border belt of Garo Hills to smuggle out hundreds of cows to the neighbouring country where beef is sold at a premium.
Cattle from as far away as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are herded into Garo Hills from where Indian collaborators having nexus with their Bangladeshi counterparts take custody of the consignment which is then lodged at a secure location close to the international border awaiting the arrival of the cross-border smugglers.
The smugglers are known to smuggle out the herd during the late night hours and the early part of the morning by cutting through the fencing. At certain spots they have been detected using high bamboo poles to lift and throw the animal across the fencing without damaging the fencing.
