Cattle smuggling has become a lucrative business for many border villages in West Bengal. The trade is driven by demand for beef across the border. It thrives with scant regard for religious taboos. For instance, the trade is rampant in Angrail, Khedapara and Gunarmath, three Hindu-dominated villages in North 24 Parganas district. They border the Muslim dominated villages of Putkhali, Rajganj and Daulatapur, respectively, in Bangladesh.
Old bulls, non-milch cows or infirm animals incapable of reproduction are picked up at distant fairs in Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and sometimes West Bengal for as much as Rs 20,000. The animals are sent to the border villages. Across the border, the animals are sold for double their price in India.
In Angrail, the ground level of many homes has been built to stock cattle. This helps during raids when seized animals are claimed as local livestock. Home owners are paid Rs 50-100 for each animal. After sunset, handlers, who get Rs 500- 700 for their trouble, make the animals cross a shallow river, which serves as the international border between India and Bangladesh. Sometimes the border fence is cut and the animals sent through.
North 24 Parganas, Nadia, Murshidabad, Malda and South Dinajpur, districts in West Bengal that border Bangladesh, are known hubs for the smuggling.
The Border Security Force (BSF), hampered by low manpower, is helpless in checking the trade. “For India it’s smuggling. But in Bangladesh, the cattle trade is legal. Once the cattle cross over, a tax is paid and it becomes legal livestock,” says a BSF official.
A few thousand animals cross over every day and some are seized by the BSF. In 2011, it seized 140,000 cattle. In 2012, the number was 122,000, still a fraction of the total.
“The only solution is to legalise the trade. This will earn revenues for the government while curbing smuggling,” says a senior BSF official.