Along Indo-Bangla border, BSF jawans fight saree smugglers who are wooing Bangladeshi women

Illegal saree trade thrives along the Indo-Bangla border in Meghalaya.

Shillong, May 30: We all know how much Indian women love and treasure their collection of sarees. No matter even if they wear them or not (as in today's world, Indian women have a variety of sartorial choices), but check a wardrobe of any woman, you are most likely to be impressed by her saree stock.

Why just blame Indian women for their madness for sarees? In neighbouring Bangladesh, women are also simply crazy about sarees--that too made in India ones.

The passion for possessing Indian sarees by Bangladeshi women has led to the thriving illegal saree trade along the Indo-Bangla border in Meghalaya.

Yes, we are not joking, it's not just the illegal trade in cattle, but saree smuggling is also causing a lot of headache for the Indian security personnel in the border area.

According to reports, the Border Security Force men recently seized 1,500 sarees valued at Rs 27 lakh from a vehicle at Umsyiem in East Khasi Hills near Dawki along the India-Bangladesh border.

"The sarees were meant to be smuggled to Bangladesh. The occupants of the vehicle escaped after seeing the troops," an official of the BSF told The Telegraph.

"Indian sarees are popular in Bangladesh markets. The smugglers were trying to take the sarees to Bangladesh to get handsome returns," the official added.

The official revealed that local criminals and Bangladeshi saree smugglers share close ties. Thus it has become a matter of great concern for the BSF personnel guarding the unfriendly border terrain.

"Smugglers on both the sides of the border remain in constant touch with each other and keep tracking the movements of BSF patrols to find a chance to smuggle consignments to Bangladesh. But we have made considerable seizures to foil such attempts by them," the official added.

OneIndia News