The Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (ATTSA) on Saturday said that rise in cattle smuggling in the state should be a prime concern for the departments of home and food civil supplies and consumer affairs.

The association said this after 24 head of cattle were seized from three suspected smugglers at Tinsukia bypass in Upper Assam on Friday night. “Rise of cattle smuggling in the state should be the prime concern not only for the home department but also for multiple departments as the smuggling leads to hike in price of milk and shortage of supply and rise in adulteration,” Irot Tanti, ATTSA Doomdooma unit president, told The Telegraph.

At present, cow milk is sold at Rs 60 while buffalo milk is priced at Rs 65-70. Local and Indian cooperatives sell 500l milk pouch between Rs 25 and Rs 28. The WHO had recently alerted the Centre, saying if adulterated milk is not checked then 87 per cent of the country’s population may suffer from fatal diseases.