Image Courtesy:nenow.in
In a shocking incident, three men were lynched by a mob in Assam’s Karimganj area on suspicion of stealing cows. The men suspected of being Bangladeshi may have sneaked by cutting the wire fence along the border.
According to India Today, the incident took place at Bhubrighat Tea Estate under Patharkandi police station near the Indo-Bangladesh border. Karimganj district Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Prasanta Dutta told media persons that a group of people entered the area from the Bangladesh side. While three were killed by the mob, the others managed to escape. The police have recovered fence-cutters, rope, bag, wires, biscuits and bread manufactured in Bangladesh from the site.
Meanwhile, Indian Express reported that in a written statement, Kumar Sanjit Krishna, Karimganj Superintendent of Police, stated, “Three unknown suspected Bangladeshi nationals were killed last night by some unknown miscreants at Bogrijan tea estate under Patharkandi police station. On enquiry it is revealed that the said Bangladeshi nationals crossed the border with a motive to steal cows from the Bogrijan area.” The process to repatriate the remains of the dead with their country of origin has been initiated.
This is the second such incident in recent times. On June 1, one man was lynched by locals after he allegedly attempted to steal cows from a house in Putni tea estate. He was later identified as 43-year-old Ranjit Munda. He was allegedly trying to steal cows with the help of three Bangladeshis and two Indians. In August 2019, yet another alleged Bangladeshi cattle smuggler was gunned down in an encounter with the Border Security Force (BSF). In May 2019, an Indian man allegedly attempting to smuggle cattle into Bangladesh was arrested by the BSF. A few days later, an alleged Bangladeshi cattle smuggler was arrested in the Cooch Behar region of West Bengal that is near the border with Assam and Bangladesh.
The India-Bangladesh border, though sealed with a wire fence, still remains extremely porous in areas along rivers, tea estates and forests. In fact, elephants in the Patharia reserve forest are known to often venture into Bangladesh. Before the British rule, the entire region was one where people moved around freely between places that are now known as West Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh.
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