JOWAI: Cattle smuggling across the Indo-Bangladesh border in Jaintia Hills continues unabated despite BSF patrol.
Muktapur and Amlapiang under Amlarem sub-division in West Jaintia Hills are among the main places from that cattle are being smuggled to Bangladesh whereas in East Jaintia Hills, smugglers often use the route through Kuliang village.
Prominent residents of the area urged the police department and the district administration, besides BSF, to monitor such illegal activities along the border in the sub-division.
“The cattle smugglers have encouraged not only the youths but also minors to earn easy money and such easy money will completely destroy our boys,” a resident said.
The triple murders last Friday at Trangblang village under Amlarem sub-division was connected to cattle smuggling.
The accused brothers, George Rosmingson and George Hemingson Manner are the main cattle smugglers.
They would hire youths from Pdeinshakap village to take their cattle across the border via Amlanai village. However, the process of picking a herd of cattle allegedly destroys vegetation.
The headman who was among the three murdered had seized the cattle and also apprehended the boys. The brothers later went to the headman’s residence at Amlanai and started threatening him.
The headman and a few villagers then allegedly assaulted the brothers.
Sources said the rampant cattle smuggling had come to the notice of residents of other villages and they had decided to write to the superintendent of West Jaintia Hills police and also the deputy commissioner against the menace.
“We had decided to write to the SP and the DC but before we could do that, the headman of Amlanai and his secretary were killed,” a source said.
