BALASORE: Police launched a massive crackdown on inter-state cattle smuggling and conducted raids in 19 locations across Balasore, Bhadrak and Mayurbhanj districts on Friday night.
Under the directions of DIG (Eastern Range) Pinak Mishra, 19 police teams conducted searches at the residences of suspected cattle smugglers to identify movable and immovable assets allegedly acquired through illegal cattle transportation activities carried out over several years in Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand.
Two persons were arrested from Bhadrak while two others were detained from Balasore on charges of cattle smuggling. The accused are Jahid Khan and Matar Khan.
Meanwhile, one of the key suspects, Uttam Kumar Dandpat of Saraskana under Jharpokharia police limits in Mayurbhanj, was absconding when police arrived at his residence. During the search, police seized around 200 grams of gold, 500 grams of silver and Rs 1.20 lakh in cash from his house.
Officials also identified landed properties and a well-furnished residential building worth nearly Rs 2 crore linked to Dandapat.
Police said the raids began on Friday night and continued into Saturday. Over 12 platoons of police force, along with senior officers from the three districts, participated in the operation to prevent any untoward incidents.
The raids were carried out at seven locations in Balasore including, Jaleswar, Kamarda, Baliapal, Basta, Kadriyan, Chasakhand-I and Chasakhand-II. Similarly, the raids were carried out in four areas in Mayurbhanj including Betnoti, Baisinga, Saraskana and Rairangpu, and six locations under Bhadrak town and Puruna Bazaar police station limits.
In Balasore district, police seized three swords, a pair of gold anklets, a pair of gold earrings, two silver chains, a silver nose ornament, a silver ring, a silver waist chain, a mobile phone, five cars and four motorcycles.
The DIG said that details of the total assets, cash and documents seized would be shared after a final report is compiled.