Kingpin of cattle smuggling racket nabbed in Baduria

The police arrested the kingpin of cattle smuggling racket at North 24 Parganas Baduria early on Wednesday.

Police said Safikul Islam; the prime accused was booked from his residence at Jangalpur, under the jurisdiction of Baduria police station.

A source informed that the investigators were following him from a local restaurant at Narayanpur.

The accused did not understand that some policemen in plain clothes were following him. The police caught him when he was entering his residence.

Some packs of narcotic products, Rs 40,000 in cash and phone numbers of his other gang members were recovered from his house.

Police also recovered two mobile phones, maps of India-Bangladesh border and ATM cards of different banks from him.

“He was taken to the court on Wednesday. The court remanded him to seven days police custody,” said a police officer. The police was looking for Safikul since the last few months.

“It is a success for us. This man was involved in most of the cattle smuggling cases alongside India-Bangladesh border in North 24 Parganas,” said the officer.

The investigators learnt that the accused recently started working as a drug peddler in this area. “We found some bottles of Codeine, which the drug addicts generally drink for drowsiness,” said the officer.

The police record revealed that Safikul killed his two brothers to become the only cattle smuggler alongside India-Bangladesh border. He made his gang. But he was not the sole player there.

Many people came to join the same profession. Safikul made enemies by the time. “He was often involved in gunfights with his rivals. His gang members also hatched a conspiracy to kill him recently,” the officer said.

The police also learnt about the interesting modus operandi of Safikul. “He used to convince poor 

farmers to carry their cattle to the border area. Those farmers were actually the ‘cattle smuggling corridor’ there. They were paid a good amount of money,” the officer said.