Two alleged cattle smugglers were killed in an ambush on a police vehicle by suspected extremists in western Assam’s Kokrajhar district early Tuesday morning, the police said. The motive behind the attack for about 12 minutes at 1.15 a.m. could have been to free the smugglers who were a source of funding for the extremists, the officer added.
“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,” a senior district police officer said, declining to be quoted.
“During interrogation, the two disclosed the modus operandi of the smuggling of cattle from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal to Bangladesh via Assam. They also said a huge amount from the profit is distributed to extremist organisations in the Bodoland Territorial Region,” the officer said.
