Guwahati: The Assam police on Thursday arrested four suspected smugglers and rescued 53 cattle heads at Sonapur on the outskirts of Guwahati.
A team of East Guwahati Police District from the Sonapur police station intercepted six vehicles, including five pick up vans and one truck, and rescued the cattle that were being smuggled to Meghalaya’s Byrnihat.
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The accused have been identified as Rafiq Islam, a resident of Nagaon district’s Samaguri, Mustafir Rahman of Sivasagar’s Khatual, Akhilus Zaman and Mubarak Ali, both hailing from Nagaon’s Rupahi.
All the accused were later produced before a court for further proceedings.
Despite best efforts by the law enforcement agencies to curb the menace of cattle smuggling, it has been going on unabated in the state.
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These cattle are reportedly smuggled to neighbouring Bangladesh through the porous borders of Assam and Meghalaya.
An inter-state racket is involved in the illegal trade and a portion of the money from it is allegedly used in funding of terror networks.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on April 21, 2022 stated that the cattle smuggling business involves thousands of crores and a portion of the money goes to jihadi elements.
On April 19, 2022, two most wanted mafias, involved in cattle smuggling, were killed in cross firing with Assam police in the state’s Kokrajhar district. The duo was arrested from Uttar Pradesh and later brought to Assam for further investigation.