Huge cattle smuggling across Bangladesh border

Tens of thousands of cow are being smuggled out of India through Assam-Bangladesh border due to upcoming Bakri Idd and both the Bangladesh and Indian government have turned blind eye towards it.

According to reports coming from Dhubri sector, almost 10,000 cows are being smuggled out to Bangladesh every day. The cows are transported out of the country using riverine route as well as through border gates.

This is noteworthy that Bangladesh has a huge consumption of cow during Bakri Idd and it is completely dependent on the smuggling from India. In Bangladesh prce for per kilogram of cow meat is around Rs 475 and it goes up for the sacrifices for the Bakri Idd.

The cow smuggling, which was closed in the past few months due to strict vigil of the BSF, flared up due to Idd and surprisingly all the Government agencies working in the field are mum on it.

The field reports suggest that in some areas, the govt agencies are legalizing the trade by slapping a fine of Rs 500 per cow.

A rough estimates suggested till tomorrow, Bangladesh would be importing illegally around 1,10,000 cows from India only through Dhubri sector for the Bakri Idd, which is on August 22.

The Indian valuation of the cow will be anything between Rs 100-Rs 150 crore. The commission of this amount goes to every government agencies working in the area, including the police, excise, customs and border securities.

"The amount is so colossal that most of the government agencies wait for this Bakri Idd so that they could turn blind eye for a week so that smuggling could take place. The tight vigil against the Cow smuggling shall be resumed from the morning of August 22", said a source who is closely connected to the trade.