Patna/Motihari, May 22: Eleven people were arrested and 118 cattle heads being smuggled to Nepal from East Champaran district were seized today. The value of the seized cattle heads is estimated to be Rs 23.5 lakh.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of the Sashastra Seema Bal’s 13th battalion intercepted a group of people near Barwa village under Ramgarhwa police station when they were being transported to Nepal through Champapur. The cattle were later handed over to customs department officials at Raxaul.

Assistant commandant B.S. Pratihar said the SSB personnel intercepted 11 members of the gang when they were trying to sneak into Nepal from Barwa village.

“Such a large number of cattle were being transported to Nepal for the first time in recent times,” Pratihar added.

Sources said the cattle were being taken to Nepal in the small hours. “The cattle are smuggled to Nepal from Bihar from remote villages situated along the international border. There is a well-organised gang involved in cattle smuggling,” said a senior official of the SSB. The arrested persons have been identified as Mohammad Jalil Mian, Ali Sher Khan, Nausheed, Jamaruddin Sheikh, Amjad Ali, Salul Hasan, Janiullah, Pervez Alam, Shahbuddin, Mohammad Malanullah and Mohammad Muzahir.

The members of the gang have employed agents in remote villages, who contact prospective sellers and buy their cattle. “We have issued instructions to intensify patrolling along the India-Nepal border in the wake of seizure of such a large number of oxen,” said a senior official posted at the SSB’s frontier headquarters office in Patna.