10 cattle smugglers held on Jharkhand-Odisha border

Ten suspected cattle smugglers were arrested with 130 animals following a raid on Jharkhand-Odisha border in West Singhbhum district on Thursday, a senior police officer said.

A police team led by Chaibasa Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Sadar) Amar Kumar Pandey conducted the raid.

Around 130 cattle have been recovered from them, the police officer said, adding they were being taken to Odisha's Mayurbhanj district.

An inter-state gang was involved in the illegal trade, he said, adding that the gang had a plan to transport the cattle to West Bengal, Bangladesh and various parts of Odisha.

The gang was involved in this trade for the last few years, Pandey said. He said some smugglers managed to escape under the cover of jungle.

The smugglers treated the cattle cruelly as majority of them bore bruises of red hot iron rod on their bodies, he said.

The police said further investigation was on to identify other members of the gang.