The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Border Security Force (BSF) commandant for his alleged role in the smuggling of cattle to Bangladesh via West Bengal.
The accused, Satish Kumar, was booked along with three traders named Enamul Haque, Anarul Sheikh and Mohammed Golam Mustafa. The agency had earlier arrested Haque.
In September, the CBI searched the premises of the accused at 13 locations in West Bengal’s Kolkata and Murshidabad, Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, Amritsar in Punjab and Chhattisgarh’s Raipur, where the officer was currently posted.
From December 19, 2015, to April 22, 2017, he was posted as commandant in the 36 Battalion of BSF in the Malda district. The agency alleged that during his tenure, more than 20,000 cows were seized by the force, but the persons involved in the cattle smuggling were not apprehended. Their vehicles were also not seized.
It is alleged that there was a nexus between BSF personnel, Customs officials and the traders, due to which seizure lists of the cattle were prepared arbitrarily, categorising the breed and size of animals with a motive to bring down their price during auctions, which resulted in less revenue for the government.
After buying the cattle at much cheaper rates, the accused persons showed them to have been disposed of in the local market and smuggled them to Bangladesh.
Haque allegedly used to pay ₹2,000 per cattle head to BSF officials and ₹500 to the Customs officials, who would also take 10 per cent of the auction price in bribe from the successful bidders.
The commandant had allegedly got his son employed in the Haque Industries Private Limited, at a salary of over ₹30,000 per month from May 2017 to December 2017, according to the FIR.
