BSF thwarts cross-border cattle smuggling along Indo-Bangladesh border in WB's Jalpaiguri

Jalpaiguri (West Bengal) [India], January 9 : In a joint operation with West Bengal police, the Border Security Force (BSF) has apprehended four people and seized a heavy truck carrying 43 buffalos along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal. According to BSF, the persons were apprehended after they were not able to produce any legal documents and did not provide a satisfactory reply to the joint operations party.
The operation was carried out on Monday after the BSF got a tip-off. The arrested persons were identified as Rijwan, a resident of Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh; Sekh Miraj Hasan, a resident of Murshidabad district of West Bengal; Sheikh Ramjan, a resident of Birbhum district of West Bengal; and Naimuddin, a resident of Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal. The truck was intercepted at Fulbari Toll Plaza while it was going to Meghalaya, said BSF.
"On search, the party recovered 43 buffalos from the truck, three mobile phones and Indian currency (Rs. 28,900) from the possession of the apprehended persons," said BSF in a statement.
"Further, the apprehended persons, along with the seized truck, buffalos, mobiles and Indian currency, were handed over to Police Station New Jalpaiguri for further legal formalities," the statement added.
Besides the above-mentioned operation, from January 8 to January 9, troops of under-command battalions of the North Bengal Frontier BSF carried out an anti-smuggling drive in their respective border areas in order to thwart any attempt by anti-national elements to execute their nefarious design of smuggling and seized 73 cattle, 175 bottles of phenedyl, and other contraband items from different border areas, said the BSF.
The total value of the seized items is Rs. 23,96,645. The above items were seized by BSF troops while smugglers were trying to smuggle them from India to Bangladesh, the BSF said.