Siliguri, 03rd October: State Vice President of Bharatiya Janata Party Raju Banerjee made a shocking allegation regarding cattle smuggling, on Saturday. The vicious cycle of cross-border cattle smuggling has become a major challenge for the BSF and the government. Tens of thousands of cattle are illegally smuggled through the border in West Bengal annually.
In this context, BJP state Vice President Raju Banerjee accused State Tourism Minister Goutam Deb and North Bengal Development Minister Rabindranath Ghosh of being involved in the cycle and charging money for smuggling the cattle.
In retaliation, Trinamool District President Ranjan Sarkar declared to file an FIR against Raju Banerjee for making such false allegations. He asserted that the matter will also be taken to the Supreme Court if necessary.
The controversial statement was made by Banerjee during a rally organized by BJP in support of the Farm Bill in Siliguri. Several district leaders, including BJP state secretary Raju Banerjee, Siliguri Organizational BJP President Praveen Agarwal were present.
Addressing the media, Raju Banerjee accused the two TMC leaders of being involved in cattle smuggling being conducted through the Indo-Bangladesh border in Siliguri’s Phansidewa area.
Following this comment by Banerjee, Ranjan Sarkar stated that several BSF officers, some officials of the Customs Department are involved in cattle smuggling. And called it a ‘fact’. He highly condemned Banerjee’s statement and accused him of making baseless allegations without any evidence.