Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, acting on a tip-off, recovered 27 buffaloes from a truck on NH27 in Fulbari on the outskirts of Siliguri on Wednesday.
The cattle were supposed to be smuggled to Bangladesh, said sources.
The truck driver, Mesar Ali, failed to show documents approving cattle transportation. The BSF personnel then seized the truck, which had a registration number plate from Uttar Pradesh.
The driver, who is from the Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh, was accompanied by Farman Ali, who is from the same district, and Samsur Ali and Hamed Ali, who are from the Purnia district of Bihar. They have all been arrested.
“The quartet, along with the truck, was handed over to the New Jalpaiguri police station while the buffaloes were handed over to the safe custody of a local panchayat samiti,” said a source.