Three Bangladeshi nationals alleged to be cattle smugglers were lynched by locals in southern Assam’s Karimganj district around midnight on July 18. Four others from across the border escaped.
Kumar Sanjit Krishna, the district’s Superintendent of Police said the incident happened at Bogrijan Tea Estate under Patharkandi police station near the 134 Battalion of the Border Security Force’s E Company. The area is close to the border with Bangladesh and about 1.5 km from the nearest police outpost.
“On inquiry, it was revealed that the said Bangladeshi nationals crossed the border with a motive to steal cows from the Bogrijan area. They were lynched by people yet to be identified,” he told The Hindu from district headquarters Karimganj on July 19.
A few items recovered from the three included Bangladesh-made biscuits and bread, rope, bag, wires and fence-cutters, Mr. Krishna said.
The police recovered the bodies of the three men and a process was on to hand them over to the Bangladeshi authorities via the Border Security Force.
This was the second such incident in Karimganj district in less than two months.
On June 1, a 43-year-old Bangladeshi national was lynched in Putni Tea Estate situated about 3 km from the India-Bangladesh border. The man was identified as Ranjit Munda and police quoted locals as saying he had come with five others — three Bangladeshis and two Indians — to steal cows from cattle farmers in the estate.
Verification of the man’s identity revealed he was from Sonaroopa Tea Estate on the other side of the fence. The body was later handed over to the Border Guards Bangladesh.
