Two villagers were killed when the Border Security Force opened fire on a group of people who were allegedly smuggling cattle into Bangladesh early on Thursday.

This is the second incident of BSF firing in Cooch Behar district in the past one-and-a-half months. An Indian and two Bangladeshis had been killed in BSF firing on the border on November 12.

Cooch Behar superintendent of police Sumit Kumar said the BSF troops had spotted a group of alleged cattle smugglers on the Bangladesh border in Kashimghat under Dinhata police station around 2.30am on Thursday.

“Reportedly, the smugglers scuffled with the BSF team and tried to snatch their Insas rifles. This made the troops fire six rounds. One man suffered injuries and he was brought to the MJN Medical College and Hospital (in Cooch Behar) where he died later. A BSF jawan was injured in the scuffle,” Kumar said.

The deceased was Lutpar Rahaman, 33, a resident of Purba Jaridharala Baraibari village of Dinhata.

Later in the day, the Guwahati frontier of the BSF issued a statement saying the body of another person identified as Jahidul Miya, who was from Jaridharala village, was found in the Singhimari river that flows through the area.

Trinamul condemned the Centre’s decision to expand the BSF’s jurisdiction.