Two alleged cattle smugglers, who were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police on 13 April, were killed in an "ambush by extremists" in Assam's Kokrajhar district on Monday, 18 April, the Assam Police said. Four police personnel also sustained injuries in the incident and a police vehicle was damaged.
The deceased, Akbar Banjara and Salman, were arrested on 13 April by the Meerut Police.
Residents of the Falawada area in Meerut, the duo had cases of cattle smuggling registered in both Meerut and Kokrajhar. On alert, a contingent of Assam police came down to Meerut and took them in custody after serving a warrant.
Assam police had announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh for Akbar's arrest. The reward money was handed over to Meerut police by their Assam counterparts, UP police had informed in a tweet on 15 April.
"Two cattle smugglers were killed and four police personnel injured during a gunfight in the Gossaigaon area, Kokrajhar district, last night. We have recovered one AK series rifle & ammunition from the spot. Search operation underway," Kokrajhar SP Thube Prateek Vijaykumar said on Tuesday, 19 April.
The two had been booked under Sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 386 (extortion), 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) as well as other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Additionally, the two were also booked under stringent sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act and the Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act. They had been sent to police custody in Assam on the basis of a warrant registered for an animal cruelty case against the duo in Kokrajhar.
Details About the Incident
The police said that the attack happened around 1.15 am when the smugglers were being taken to the Jamduar area of the district for identification of smuggling routes along the Sankosh river.
According to the police, the vehicle carrying the duo "came under the ambush of extremists near Jamduar," following which the personnel jumped out of the car to take a position in nearby spots to fire back at the "extremists". However, the arrested accused failed to get out of the car and sustained bullet injuries.
The police also said that roads were blocked with felled trees at the incident site.
After taking cover, the police personnel retaliated and the firing between the two sides lasted for 10-12 minutes.
"After sensing no danger, the police party immediately evacuated the injured accused persons from the vehicle and sent them in another vehicle for treatment at Saraibil Primary Health Centre," the police said, adding that the duo was declared brought dead by the on-duty doctor.
One AK-47 rifle, two magazines, 35 rounds of live ammunition, and 28 rounds of empty bullet shells were recovered from the site.
"During the investigation, they had revealed that cattle from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, and Assam were being smuggled to Bangladesh via Meghalaya," the police said.
According to the police, the duo divulged that fundamentalist militant organisations based in Bangladesh, as well as Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, were involved in this racket, and the money from this trade was being used for anti-India activities.
Some of the money, the police said, was being used for terror funding and also found its way to extremist organisations of Assam and Meghalaya.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)