Suspected cattle smuggler shot dead by BSF at Bangladesh border

A suspected cattle smuggler was shot dead by BSF at the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal's Coochbehar district in the early hours of Thursday, police said.

The BSF opened fire on a group of 15-20 suspected cattle smugglers around 2.30 am in Kashimghat in Gitaldah border outpost area of Dinhata after they tried to snatch the INSAS rifles from the security personnel, police said.

A BSF spokesperson in Guwahati said a suspected smuggler was shot at and sent to the hospital with bullet wounds.

The area is in the jurisdiction of the BSF Guwahati Frontier.

''The firing injured Lutpar Rahaman, a resident of Gitaldaha block II. He was shifted to the hospital by BSF, where he died. Rahman is a known cattle smuggler of the area,'' a senior police officer of Coochbehar district said.

''A BSF personnel was also injured in the scuffle,'' he said.

The BSF used a pump-action gun to intercept the smugglers, but as a scuffle broke out, they tried to snatch the INSAS rifles from the personnel, following which the forces fired six rounds in self defence, the officer said.

On Wednesday, a Bangladeshi national was killed when BSF personnel fired to thwart a narcotics smuggling bid along the International Border in the state's Malda district, a senior officer said.