25 cattle seized, 3 arrested in Assam

A total of 25 cattle were seized and three bovine smugglers arrested in Churaibari in Assam’s Karimganj district, police said on Sunday.

The cattle, which included 13 calves, were being ferried in a truck from Bihar to Tripura capital Agartala.

An Assam Police team stopped the truck during routine checking on Saturday evening and asked for necessary documents, which the owner of the cattle could not provide, they said.

Subsequently, the team impounded the vehicle and seized the cattle.

The arrested persons are owner of the cattle, Monarik Rai, truck driver Sontosh Singh and helper Dharmendra Rai - all hailing from Vaishali district of Bihar, the sources said.

The Assam Police has upped the ante against cattle smuggling since the new government, under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, assumed charge in May, and several attempts at illegally transporting the animals across even the international border to Bangladesh have been foiled.

Three such attempts at smuggling cattle to Bangladesh were foiled in Dhubri district since June, while more than 12 suspected smugglers have been arrested in Kokrajhar district in the last two months.

The state government has also brought in a Bill - Assam Cattle Preservation Bill, 2021 - which prohibits inter-state transport of cattle meant for slaughter to and from, as well as through Assam, without valid documents.

Introduced in the state assembly by the chief minister on July 12, it also seeks to regulate the slaughter, consumption and transportation of cattle in the state.