Jammu, August 30:
Smugglers, who have long used the routes of Nepal and West Bengal to smuggle cattle to Bangladesh, have now started changing the route.
The pressure on the old routes has increased as the surveillance has been intensified in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Jammu and Kashmir has now emerged as a fast new base in these changed paths. More than 67,000 cattle were rescued from the clutches of cattle smugglers in six districts in seven years.
The scope of smuggling in the state was earlier considered to be limited to the border areas. Now there is a network of smuggling from Kathua and Samba to Udhampur and Ramban. Cases of smuggling have also been reported in hilly districts like Doda and Kishtwar. That is, the smugglers have started taking a long and winding route to avoid police surveillance.