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| Bovine smuggling witnesses spurt in absence of 'strict laws' | | |
Arun Trisal
Kathua, Mar 11: In the deficiency of rigorous law to curb the smuggling of bovine animals in the State, the menace has reached an alarming situation as the bovine smugglers are not only smuggling animals from neighboring States but also are becoming a security threat. Though the police have tightened its noose on the bovine smuggling in the State by increasing the patrolling and installing nakas on the National Highway right from Lakhanpur to Banihal including Dhar road yet the menace is still continuing with smugglers changing the 'modus operandi'. If recalled here the bovine smugglers in bizarre incident snatched weapon from cops on Feb 27/28 last year when police laid a nakka in Marheen area along the highway in Kathua district. "The smugglers dared not only to attack the cops at a nakka injuring three cops and even snatched the service rifle (AK-47) of one of the cops, he said.
According to sources, the bovine smuggling which has become a flourishing trade for the smugglers as the animals fetch high price in the market after being smuggled to Kashmir where they are high in demand and at times policemen have to give a hot chase bovine smugglers' for kilometers together and before nabbing them but this job also proves risky for the cops. With police intensifying its vigil on the bovine trade, the smugglers have also adopted the new routes via jungles and river basins to smuggle the bovines even by foot and in Kathua region Police many times have foiled such smuggling bids in which animals were being smuggled on foot from Punjab via Ravi basin. The spurt in bovine smuggling have attracted attention of locals who too have joined in the move to put a check on the bovine smuggling as it at times creates communal disharmony. In a recent incident local residing along river Ravi near Berian Pattan succeeded in capturing one truck loaded with ten bovines and two smugglers however two truck drivers managed to flee from the scene. The local thrashed the captured smugglers and even tried to set fire to the truck involved. Keeping in view the tense situation created the police officials in the leadership of ASP Yogesh Sharma rushes to the spot to prevent any law & order problem, as there was strong resentment among the people of the locality. Alleging the state government and other law enforcing agencies, the local said that bovine smuggling has become a flourishing trade for the smugglers and a great threat to the people residing in close vicinity to their routes. Alleging police-smugglers unholy nexus, they said that earlier this route was not opted by smugglers as police has created hurdles/obstructions along the route but now these have been cleared. They also cited the incident that on February 16, 2014 too, the locals came to know regarding the smuggling, following which they noticed four trucks coming from the river side. They added that not only the trucks they held a car which was moving in suspicious circumstances. Later police came to the spot and arrested three bovine smugglers. The locals alleging the law enforcement agencies to take preventive measures to put a curb upon this practice the demand if not meted out in time will compel locals to stage protest in this regard. |
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