Smugglers sending cattle to Bangladesh through riverine routes are tying bombs around the necks of the animals to dissuade the BSF from intercepting them, the border guards said on Thursday.

Smugglers sending cattle to Bangladesh from several south Bengal districts are tying banana tree trunks on either side of the animals and pushing them into rivers so that they float to the other side where pilferers in the neighbouring country lie in wait.

On Thursday, a patrolling team of the BSF rescued from the Ganga cattle that were being smuggled to Bangladesh from Harudanga in Murshidabad, but found improvised explosive devices tied to their necks.

A BSF spokesperson said: “The cattle smugglers’ objective is to injure our personnel. We have told our personnel to be careful while rescuing cattle being smuggled.”