Kolkata, Nov 12: In an operation by the Border Security Force (BSF) to prevent cattle smuggling, three persons, including two suspected Bangladeshi nationals, were killed along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district on November 11.

According to the statement from BSF, the three miscreants were allegedly trying to smuggle cattle through an improvised cantilever built with bamboo to the Indian territory and one of the deceased was identified as an Indian national.

Further, the statement reads, “BSF troops utilised non-lethal munition to deter the miscreants, but they attacked BSF troops with iron dah and sticks causing injuries to the troops. Sensing an imminent threat to their life, the BSF party fired in the air towards miscreants. Later during the search, dead bodies of two unknown miscreants were found between the border fence and International Boundary.”

The report says, one of their personnel was injured in the incident, and information regarding this was shared with the Border Guards at Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, the deaths evoked a strong reaction from the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Speaking on the matter, Dinhata MLA and party leader Udayan Guha blamed the BSF for the deaths and accused its personnel of being involved in cross-border smuggling.

“Every time something goes wrong, the BSF comes out with elaborate stories about the incident,” he alleged.

It may be mentioned that Cattle smuggling along the porous border in West Bengal and Assam with Bangladesh was rampant over the past few years. Of late, there has been a drop in the cattle seized along the border, particularly in the South Bengal Frontier of the BSF and in the Dhubri Mankachar area of Assam.

The development comes at a time when the State government has expressed strong reservations about increasing the operational jurisdiction of the BSF to 50 km.