Cattle smuggling to Bangladesh completely halted from south Bengal front: BSF report

The data report said as no cattle was smuggled, no government auction of cattle could take place this year in Bangladeshi corridors opposite this frontier like Jessore, Kushtia and Rajshahi.

There have been zero cattle smuggling incidents to Bangladesh this year from one of the country’s most notorious fronts in West Bengal, a first since the Modi government declared in 2014 that the crime has to stop at any cost. The Kolkata-based south Bengal frontier of the Border Security Force (BSF) is tasked to guard 913.32 km of the India-Bangladesh international border (IB) out of the total 4,096 km, running across five States and it has recorded official figures to claim that no cattle was smuggled from its side till May, 2021. Former Union Home Minister and current Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, while officiating as the chief guest of the 49th BSF raising day on December 1, 2014 in Delhi, had first told the force that it “should stop the smuggling of cows and cattle at this border at any cost”. He reiterated this stand at various other public events even as similar assertions were made by other Ministers and BJP chief Ministers. The data shared with the BSF headquarters in Delhi and the Union Home Ministry has been accessed by PTI and it says that there has been a “significant” curb on this crime under this front, that used to have a 75% share out of the total cattle smuggling prevalent along this border.