Khapara cattle market being used for smuggling'

OUR STAFF CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG, Feb 16: Misusing of the Khapara cattle market by intertiol smugglers is a proven fact and the conduits used all the local logistics to ferry the cattle to Bangladesh through the unfenced area located in the southern slopes of Meghalaya stretch along the Indo- Bangladesh border.

This was revealed by the outgoing Inspector Genera (IG) of the BSF (Meghalaya Frontier) Sudesh Kumar in an exclusive chat with The Sentinel, even as he spoke about the new mechanism being put in place along with the Meghalaya Police.

The Traditiol Institution of Hima Mylliem is the custodian of the Khapara cattle market .But the functiories of the institution have been in a denial mode for a long time.

The open disclosure of the Shillong Butcher Association last month on the charade made by the Hima Mylliem stands exposed.

“The Khapara Market has been used as a transit point for the spill over cattle that could be smuggled through the North Bengal and Dhubri area”, stated Kumar adding that the trend of smuggling through Meghalaya stretches of the Intertiol border has been seen since 2012.

“The smugglers are using the unfenced border area. People from Meghalaya and Assam are involved in this illegal trade”, stated Kumar.

Stating that the BSF and the State Police have now started working in tandem to check cattle smuggling, the outgoing IG further added that the fencing of the unfenced 110 Kms stretch of Khasi- Jaintia hills will go a long way in combating smuggling.

The fencings are expected to be completed by June this year, informed Kumar.

Meanwhile, the Government has asked the caretaker of the traditiol cattle market to issue a transit pass to any vehicle that transship the cattle from the market.