Less flow of Indian cows

Bringing of cows from across the border through different points at Benapole has almost stopped as Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel are not allowing anybody to go to India for the purpose.

The cows entering Bangladesh are brought by the Indians to the zero point at the border. The cows are taken to a place where there is no barbed wire in the name of grazing them and pushed into Bangladesh.

A small number of cows, however, are coming through Benapole's Putkhali, Agrabhulot, Daulatpur and Goga illegally. The traders keep the smuggled cows in khatals (cattle enclosures) at the four points and the customs officials realize value added tax (VAT) at Navaron to make them legal.

Customs Revenue Officer-in-Charge at Navaron customs corridor Anjuman Ara Begum said 5,000 to 7,000 cows used to come every day through Putkhali, Agrabhulot, Daulatpur and Goga khatals four to five years ago. Now the number has come down to 20 to 25, she said.  These illegal cows are kept in the BGB khatal and they are made legal after payment of Tk 500 per cow as tax, she added.

Anjuman said 35,678 cows were smuggled into Bangladesh between January and July in 2017 and the government received Tk 1,78,39,000. During the same period this year, 7,536 cows were smuggled into the country and the government received Tk 37,63,000.

BGB 21 Battalion Commanding Officer (in-charge) Major Syed Shohel Ahmed said the number of cows coming from India has decreased. Nobody is allowed to go to India to bring cows from across the border, he said. As a result, the number of Bangladeshis killed at the border came down to zero in the last one month.

Meanwhile, farmers in Jessore said there will be no impact on the cattle market although cows are not being imported from India.

Upazila Livestock Officer Joydev Kumar Singha said there is a demand for 30,500 cows and 27,000 goats in Jessore during Eid-ul Azha. There will be no crisis of sacrificial animals this year as the farms are planning to supply 40,000 cows and 30,000 goats, he added.