Hundreds of thousands of Indian cows are being smuggled in to Bangladesh, despite government claims that local supply can satisfy Eid demand.
There is no legal way for Indian cows to enter Bangladesh, but smugglers are not deterred from bringing in large consignments of cattle.
The Dhaka Tribune’s Mohammad Jamil Khan and Syed Samiul Basher Anik visited the north-eastern border areas used as smuggling routes and found that cattle smuggling had increased five or six times compared to last year.
Cattle traders in the border areas said 200,000 Indian head of cattle had entered country in the last month and a half. Government figures showed that around 100,000 Indian cows had been smuggled in last month.
According to the National Board of Revenue, before India banned the cross-border cattle trade, an average of 1.2 million cows came in every year.
In July, August and September 2014, some 6,554 cows came through, according to the Roumari customs office in the northern district of Kurigram.
In July, August and up to September 13 this year, some 23,932 cows came through Roumari border point.
Customs officials sell seized cows to cattle traders for Tk500 per cow. This money ends up in the state coffers as revenue and buyers receive tokens or receipts in return.
The cattle smuggling figures provided by the customs office are based on this revenue collection. Roumari is one of 31 points through which cattle is smuggled from India.
According to a letter from the director general of the Directorate of Livestock to the secretary of the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry on Monday, there is sufficient local supply to meet 90% of Eid demand.
If that is true, there should not be any demand for the imported cows, at least not during this Eid.
People involved in the cattle trade say Indian cows are cheaper than local cattle, hence the great demand for them.
Hedayet Ullah Al Mamun, secretary to the Commerce Ministry, said: “We … will take necessary action if any quarter tries to destabilise the market by artificially increasing prices.”
He said the Eid cattle market is a nine-day rush, making it difficult to regulate.
Since last year, India has been the world’s biggest beef exporter with a projected total of 2.4 million tonnes exported in 2015.