A 50-year-old suspected Bangladeshi smuggler died after the BSF posted at the India-Bangladesh border fired at a gang of smugglers after they attacked the security forces on Tuesday night.

Sources at the Guwahati frontier of the BSF said a team of the security forces that was patrolling at the international border in the Sitai area of Cooch Behar spotted a group of suspected smugglers on the Bangladesh side of the border on Tuesday night.

“The group was trying to smuggle cattle and other contraband items from Bangladesh. As a sentry of the BSF challenged them, the group retaliated and attacked him with sharp weapons and bamboo sticks,” said a source.

“The sentry fired non-lethal ammunition in self-defence, prompting the ‘smugglers’ to escape from the border on the Bangladesh side,” the source added.

Later, the BSF got information that the suspected smuggler identified as Nur Islam, a resident of Lalmonirhat district of Bangladesh, was hit by a bullet.

The BSF sources mentioned that the body of Islam was recovered by the forces of the neighbouring country.