Police said extremist groups get a share of Bangladesh’s profits from illegal trade
Police said extremist groups get a share of Bangladesh’s profits from illegal trade
Suspected extremists ambushed a police vehicle in western Assam’s Kokrajhar district early Tuesday, killing two alleged cattle smugglers. The motive behind the attack at 1.15 am for around 12 minutes may have been to free the smugglers, who were a source of money for the extremists, the official said.
A senior district police officer said, “Akbar Banjara and Salman Banjara, the accused duo, were arrested in connection with a case in Meerut and a non-bailable warrant was issued against them eight months ago.”
“During interrogation, both revealed the modalities of cattle smuggling into Bangladesh via Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal to Assam. He also said that a huge amount from the profits is distributed to the extremist organizations in the Bodoland Territorial Area,” the official said.
These organizations include the now-disbanded National Democratic Front of Boroland, Kamtapur Liberation Organization and some organizations from Meghalaya.
Police claimed that they had taken Akbar and Salman along on Monday evening to identify routes of cattle smuggling along the Sankosh river, bordering Bhutan.
“When we reached a place called Jamduar, our vehicles caught fire. The police personnel got down from the vehicles, took positions and started firing at the places where the extremists were.
Two alleged smugglers caught in the shootout have been shot along with four police personnel. After the firing stopped, some policemen took the injured to the nearby Sorebil Primary Health Center, where doctors declared them brought dead.
The remaining police personnel searched the ambush site and recovered one AK-47 assault rifle along with two magazines, 35 rounds of ammunition and 28 rounds of empty shells. A branch of a tree planted on the side of the road to stop vehicles was also recovered.
“There were indications of injuries to some of the attackers in the retaliatory strike. Our jawans are conducting searches in the area to nab the extremists.
This is the first such case of alleged death of animal smugglers in police custody. Since May 2021, at least 30 alleged animal traffickers, drug dealers, murderers, sex offenders and other criminals of color have been killed in police encounters in Assam. More than 100 others were shot in the leg while trying to escape by snatching a service weapon.