Every week more than five to six thousand cows were smuggled to Bangladesh through Amadia border.
Amadia (West Bengal): Cow smuggling along the Indo-Bangla border in North 24 Parganas district’s Swarupnagar police station area has reduced considerably following strengthening of vigil on the stretch by the state police and Border Security Force (BSF) in the recent months.
The village, tucked away in a remote corner of the district was once known for a notorious spot for cow smuggling and human trafficking. There has been a sharp fall in smuggling of cattle to Bangladesh after the Narendra Modi government took an initiative to stop the menace and erected fencing along the border of the two countries.
There was no such fencing in the area till recently. After the drive taken by the Union Government to set up fencing along the border of the two countries, the number of cows being smuggled to Bangladesh has dropped. The initiative has also aimed at reducing infiltration and girl trafficking.
Mohar Mondal, a resident of the area said that several thousand cows were smuggled through the border by the smugglers even a few months back. “But the number has dropped considerably at present,” he said.
According to the estimate of the villagers every week more than five to six thousand cows were smuggled to Bangladesh through Amadia border.
Local people said that the cows were brought from Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of India. Since the demand of beef is very high in Bangladesh, the smugglers took the illegal route to send the cow to the neighbouring country.
The villagers alleged that the local police did not take any strong action against the smugglers and whenever they arrested a culprit, they would slap some minor case against them.
But following the directives of the Union government, the State government too has increased its vigil to stop the crime in the border areas. The state police too have stepped up its vigil and several arrests have been made in this connection over the past few months.
Apart from cow smuggling, girl trafficking in the district was also far-flung even a few months back. But after the Union government has started to close the pours areas of the border, girl trafficking has also reduced.
Rabiul Hussain, the secretary of the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights, a local NGO who are working to stop girls trafficking along the Indo-Bangla border said, during the last one year they have intercepted at least 40 girls who were smuggled from Bangladesh to India.
Describing the modus operandi of the traffickers, he said that the touts target girls coming from poor families. They lure them with giving good job or sometimes promise them to arrange their marriages with suitable Indian boys. Once they were brought to from Bangladesh to India they were sold to different brothels in Kolkata, Mumbai and other places of India.
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