Three Bangladeshi cattle lifters killed in clashes with villagers in Khowai

Three unidentified Bangladeshi cattle lifters were hacked to death, while two Indian villagers sustained injuries in a clash between the two sides in a border village in Tripura’s Khowai district on Wednesday.

A senior police official said that two Indian villagers from the Bidyabil area under the Champahowar police station in Khowai district had gone to work in a rubber garden near the India-Bangladesh border.

The duo noticed three Bangladeshi men hiding in the rubber garden, and when challenged, the cattle lifters turned aggressive and attacked them with daos (sharp-edged weapons), injuring both.

The two injured Indians returned to the village and informed others. Some villagers then rushed to the border area, detained the three Bangladeshis after a clash, and allegedly hacked them to death.

The two injured villagers from Bidyabil are currently undergoing treatment at the Behelabari government Hospital.

A police team, along with forensic experts, reached the spot and recovered the three bodies, which were later sent to Khowai district hospital for post-mortem examination. The situation is stated to be under control. Senior officials also visited the spot, and an investigation is underway.

Meanwhile, Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, in a joint operation with Tripura Police, conducted a raid in the Karamtila border area of South Tripura district on Tuesday and recovered a consignment of clothes worth Rs 8 lakh, a BSF spokesman said.

He said that in separate operations, alert BSF troops foiled several smuggling attempts along the India-Bangladesh border, rescuing cattle and seizing contraband worth Rs 5 lakh that was intended to be smuggled into Bangladesh.

Tripura, which shares an 856-km-long border with Bangladesh, is surrounded on three sides by the neighbouring country, making the northeastern state highly vulnerable to cross-border illegal activities.

Except for some patches, most of the frontier has been fenced to prevent smuggling, trans-border crimes, and illegal infiltration.