Pannapur BOP a haven for cattle smugglers

Statesman News Service

PANNAPUR (Malda), Nov. 27: Over a 14-km unfenced stretch of Indo-Bangladesh border near Pannapur border outpost in Malda’s Bamongola police station area has become a new corridor for cattle smugglers. A joint effort launched by the border security forces and gram panchayat officials failed to check cattle smuggling, a highly profitable illegal trade here. Interestingly, in this Hindu belt, the border security forces organised an oath-taking programme to curb cattle smuggling where many people, touching the sacred book, Bhagbat Gita, promised that they would never do such “sinful” job.“But there was no positive result against cattle smuggling”, said local panchayat office bearers. Hundreds of employed rural youths and labourers have been involved in cattle smuggling to earn their livelihood. Their lifestyle has changed and many of them use expensive mobile phones and two-wheelers, thanks to cattle smuggling. These smugglers maintain regular contacts with their counterparts at Dhulian in Murshidabad, gram panchayat officials, said. Smugglers from Murshidabad have selected the villages in Malda for their illegal trade. The unfenced Bangla border in Malda helps them a lot. In Murshidabad, barbed wire fencing project has been implemented, much to the chagrin of the smugglers. Over the past few weeks, the BSF officials of Malda have seized hundreds of cattle which were being smuggled to Bangladesh. “Smugglers are procuring cattle from Haryana and other areas and easily bring them to Pakuahaat, a big trade centre in Malda’s Bamongola police station area. From Pakuahaat, cattle are being smuggled to Bangladesh,” said a senior NSF official. Mr Anil Kumar Bala, a CPI-M leader of the area, said: “Unemployed youths are mostly being engaged in cattle smuggling. Even KLO activists and Maoists are extorting money from smugglers. Nearly 2000 labourers are working here for this job. The BSF officials have been urged to set up two more BOPs between Pannapur and Kedaripara BOPs.”“We need to build border road in this unfenced stretch. Otherwise, it would be difficult to check cattle smuggling as well as infiltration”, said Mr Arun Kumar Biswas, a TMC leader.