Three Bangladeshi nationals, alleged to be cattle-smugglers, lynched in Assam

Three Bangladeshi nationals, alleged to be cattle-smugglers, were lynched to death by a mob in Assam's Karimganj district in the early hours today, Indian police said.

Karimganj police said the incident took place at Bogrijan Tea Estate under Patharkandi police station and near the border with Bangladesh.

"An inquiry revealed that they had crossed over with a motive to steal cows. They were lynched by the locals, who are yet to be identified," Karimganj Superintendent of Police Kumar Sanjit Krishna said.

He said police recovered fence-cutters, ropes, bags, wires and biscuits and bread manufactured in Bangladesh from the scene.

The bodies have been retrieved and the process to hand them over to Bangladeshi authorities through the Border Security Force (BSF) has started, he added.

The identity of the dead has not been made available.

A 43-year-old Bangladeshi national was lynched at another tea estate in Karimganj district near the border when he and five others, including three Bangladeshi and two Indian nationals, had tried to steal cows.