Smugglers Kill Top Indian Border Security Force Official at Bangladesh Border

New Delhi (Sputnik) — An officer of India’s Border Security Force (BSF) has lost his life, fighting smugglers in the northeastern state of Tripura that lies at the border with Bangladesh. BSF’s second-in-command, Deepak K Mandal was attacked by a racketeer when he tried to stop him from smuggling cattle to the other side of the border. The smuggler reportedly hit Mandal from behind with the car he was driving. Mandal, who sustained heavy injuries in the attack, was airlifted and taken to a hospital in Kolkata where he breathed his last.

"He was injured on 16th October, when he tried to stop a brazen smuggling attempt on Tripura border," a BSF official told Sputnik.

Earlier in September this year, a head constable of Border Security Force was killed by cattle smugglers in the Angrail area of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal.

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According to the Indian government data, eight BSF personnel were killed and approximately 500 BSF injured in scuffles with smugglers along the border with Bangladesh in the last four years.

Sputnik had reported earlier this month that cattle smugglers have regained a strong footing in pockets of West Bengal and northeastern states bordering Bangladesh as the BSF have focused their attention on checking the influx of Rohingya refugees. Following the reports of increased smuggling, India’s Home Ministry, last week, directed the BSF to once again focus on the problem. Since then, security forces have seized hundreds of truckloads of cattle that were proceeding towards Bangladesh from the Indian states of Tripura, Meghalaya and West Bengal.