KEONJHAR: The Keonjhar police continued raids at multiple locations on Saturday as part of its crackdown on organised cattle smuggling and recovered over Rs 2 lakh.
Police teams raided the residence of a truck owner, Tapan Kumar Barik, at Ranki village under Keonjhar Town police limits. As Barik is absconding, the search was conducted in the presence of his family members. Simultaneously, another team raided the house of Sheikh Nasiruddin at Swarnaprabha Chowk, under the same police limits.
Later in the day, police conducted a search at a house purchased by Barik at Jhara Sahi in Keonjhar’s Old Town. In total, raids were carried out at three locations within the Town police station limits, following intelligence inputs regarding Barik’s alleged involvement in cow smuggling.
Police recovered Rs 2 lakh in cash from Barik’s houses at Ranki and Jhara Sahi. Further investigation is underway and a search operation has been launched to nab Barik. The police have also begun scrutinising bank accounts and lockers linked to the alleged cow smuggling network.
Sadar IIC Amit Bhuyan said so far, around 200 bank accounts have been identified across five districts. A total of Rs 4.4 crore has been recovered from 121 accounts. Police have also traced over 50 bank lockers, while verification of the 79 accounts is still in progress.