A racket in Tripura which smuggles stray dogs to those states was busted with the arrest of three persons on Sunday from Kamalpur, a sub-divisional town in Dhalai district, about 150 km from here, police said today.
On the basis of tip offs, police raided Moinabari village in the subdivision and netted the three dog traffickers and recovered seven stray dogs when they were a escaping in a vehicle.
The traffickers were arrested under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and produced before a local court, which granted them bail.
The traffickers informed the police that they lifted the stray dogs for selling in Mizoram and Nagaland as one full-grown animal fetches Rs. 2000-2500 as the dog meat make palatable dish for local people there.
Earlier in April, Tripura Police had arrested three people, including a woman from Gandacharra subdivision of the same district who tried to smuggle the dogs to those states.
