Guwahati: Two alleged cattle smugglers were killed in an ambush on a police vehicle by suspected extremists in western Assam’s Kokrajhar district early Tuesday, the police said.
Sources in the Assam police said Akbar Banjara and Salman Banjara, the accused duo, were arrested in connection with a case in Meerut and non-bailable warrants were issued against them eight months ago.
The police claimed they had on Monday evening taken Akbar and Salman for the identification of the cattle smuggling routes along the Sankosh River at the India-Bhutan border.
“Our vehicles came under heavy firing when they reached a place called Jamduar. The police personnel got down from the vehicles, took positions and started firing towards where the extremists were,” police said.
Caught in the crossfire, the two alleged smugglers sustained bullet injuries along with four police personnel. The remaining police personnel searched the ambush site and recovered an AK-47 assault rifle along with two magazines, 35 rounds of live ammunition and 28 rounds of empty shells.
A branch of a tree put across the road for blocking the vehicles was also recovered. This is the first such instance of alleged cattle smugglers dying in police custody.
