In the recently held Nagaur Cattle Fair, 27 people were arrested and 200 camels, which were to be smuggled out of the state, have been rescued from them. On February 5, an FIR was lodged in Nagaur, Rajasthan under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 against 18 people from Uttar Pradesh, eight from Bharatpur and one from Alwar for trying to smuggle 200 camels out of Rajasthan for slaughter. Generally, these camels are sold within the price range of Rs 70,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
Animal activists and animal protection organization GauGyan Foundation made repeated calls to move authorities to take action against the illegal trade.
"We were informed about the camels in Nagaur Cattle Fair. But when we reached there, smugglers had escaped leaving camels. We chased them and brought them back. Each truck had 25-30 camels huddled in it. They were arrested under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Seven to eight people had a previous criminal record for the same offence," said Paris Deshmukh, SP, Nagaur.
"None of them had a purchase receipt or permission for transportation from the animal husbandry department. They were given enough opportunity to prove that they possessed land, but they were all traders. Later, they were released on bail," Deshmukh, elaborated further.
The Rajasthan Camel (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act which renders the camel as a state animal and is supposed to provide protection to camels has proved to be highly ineffectual, with hundreds of camels being smuggled out of Rajasthan every month for slaughtering. India Today has brought to light several cases where camels have been smuggled out of Rajasthan, in a majority of cases, the camels were found near the Bangladesh.
NO ACTION DESPITE REPEATED TRAFFICKING CASES
"In spite of repeated camel trafficking cases, there is still no holistic action being taken by the Rajasthan authorities for stopping this rampant trade which is an organized crime starting from Rajasthan cattle fairs and ending at the Bangladesh border. It's high time that the statutory body for animal welfare AWBI, creates well laid out camel transport rules and removes animals from the category of 'goods' for the purpose of transport," said animal activist Naresh Kadyan , who has spent over two decades fighting for the rights of animals and camels in particular.
"These camels are sold during cattle fairs in Rajasthan, largely to people coming from Baghpat, UP. The rampant smuggling of camels has led to a huge decline in their population and the government is doling out funds to breed camels. It is a serious issue which requires strict action and vigilance to stop," said Radhika Bose from the NGO, People for Animals.
"Equally gruesome is the way these camels are transported. Sharp knives and blades attached to the ends of bamboo sticks are used to load the camels forcefully into trucks. Their legs are tied and shoved on top of each other. The journey from Rajasthan to any of these places takes close to 40 hours in the truck without food and water," said Nikita Anand, a volunteer at animal protection organization Dhyan Foundation which works towards rehabilitating and protecting rescued animals.
Malda&Islampur in West Bengal, Kotputli in Rajasthan, Gurgaon in Haryana and Kishanganj in Bihar are major hubs of camels trafficking.
