Tikrikilla. May 20: West Garo Hills police, in early morning action today, May 20, apprehended a total of 7 cattle smugglers while they were illegally transporting cattle deeper into the plain belt.
The apprehension came after a tip off from the Lakhipur PS in Assam’s Goalpara, who informed the local police team in Tikrikilla about a gang smuggling cattle illegally in a vehicle. The cattle had apparently been picked up from the Assam side of Rongsai.
The team was informed at about 1:30 AM this morning, after which a team from the Tikrikilla PS went on naka duty to apprehend them.
After noticing the police team near Photamati, the smugglers immediately turned their vehicle towards the Raksamgre road with the police chasing their tails. After a few kms of pursuit, the occupants of the vehicle alighted and made a run for it leaving the vehicle as well as the cattle on the road.
A man hunt was launched by the police as well as the Village Defence Party (VDP) with the villagers apprehending the first of the smugglers about half an hour after they fled.
Later this morning, the villagers reportedly caught another 6 from the same group of smugglers and handed them over to the police. These smugglers along with the seized vehicle and the cattle were then handed over to the Lakhipur police team.
Heartbreakingly, 2 cattle died in the melee as the crammed vehicle was carrying 20 fully grown heads of cattle in the small space within the pik-up truck.
