TURA, Sept 15: A major inter-state racket to steal cattle and avoid detection by police through the use of a public bus to transport the cows has been uncovered by West Garo Hills police after its police personnel chased a fake night bus and found three adult cows kept hidden in the back of the bus where the luggage is kept.
The recovery of the stolen cows happened before day break on Thursday morning when a naka check by Rongram police, 15 kms before Tura, tried to stop a bus that was coming from the direction of the highway towards the Dadenggre road.
The bus, which was never a part of the night buses that enter Tura region every morning from Shillong and Guwahati, was spotted by police at 3:30 AM and signalled to stop.
“When our teams signalled to stop they drove away in speed towards Dadenggre road. Our boys gave a hot chase which forced them to abandon the bus and flee into the surrounding areas,” said SP Vivekanand Singh Rathore.
When the vehicle was opened they found three cows crammed into the luggage space of the bus.
It was also found that the cattle lifters gang had tried to cover the original number plate of the red colored bus with a fake one that was stuck onto the original plate.
The red colored bus had a fake assam registration number AS01 DD 1537.
It is strongly suspected that the plan was to carry the cows towards the plain belt and onwards to smugglers who would transport it to neighbouring Bangladesh where there is a big demand for Indian cattle.
They had presumed that since a number of buses enter Garo Hills early morning as part of a convoy of night bus service, they could also pass off as one of the public carriers with the illegal consignment.
The cattle are suspected to belong to a farmer from East Garo Hills whose livestock was stolen three days ago. The farmer Jitai Sangma of Songkama Rongalgre village informed Songsak police station of East Garo Hills that four of his cows were stolen on the night of 12th September.
While three of the cows have been found in the fake night bus, one remains unaccounted for and police believe locals are involved in the lifting of cattle and the missing cow may be in the possession of a local criminal since the intercepted bus was unable to push in all four cows due to lack of space.
The Dadenggre road where it was headed leads up to the plain belt region of Chibinang,Selsella, Phulbari and Bhaitbari- areas well documented for illegal cattle transit to Assam and even neighbouring Bangladesh, which is a stone’s throw from the border.
Cattle lifting has been a major problem since the past many years primarily for the inhabitants living close to the international border with Bangladesh in the areas of Maheskola, Mahadeo, Baghmara, Sibbari and Gasuapara (all in South Garo Hills), Purakhasia and Mahendraganj in South West Garo Hills and more recently in the plain belt region of West Garo Hills which has become a major illegal transit route.
