• New Delhi urges Dhaka to ‘uphold sanctity of international boundary’

DHAKA, Bangladesh 

Bangladesh on Friday called on India to identify and prosecute those responsible for lynching three Bangladeshi citizens earlier this week after they illegally crossed into India’s northeastern state of Tripura.

Officials and Indian media said the men were beaten to death by a mob on Wednesday on suspicion of cattle theft in Tripura’s Khowai district, a few kilometers from the Bangladesh border.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it urged the Indian government to conduct an “immediate, impartial and transparent” investigation into the incident and take steps to prevent similar inhumane acts.

“The perpetrators must be identified and brought to justice,” it said.

The victims were identified as Jewel Mia, 32, Pati Mia, 45, and Sajal Mia, 20, all residents of Chunarughat town in Bangladesh’s northeastern Habiganj district, which borders southern Tripura.

Their bodies were handed over to Bangladeshi authorities by India’s Border Security Force (BSF) on Thursday, according to Md Jahidul Islam, officer in charge of Chunarughat police station.

“There was no previous history of cattle smuggling or related cases against the three,” Islam told Anadolu. He said the men had illegally crossed the border, and Indian police had opened cases over the killings.

In New Delhi, the Indian Foreign Ministry said: “A group of three miscreants from Bangladesh crossed the international border and attempted to steal cattle from Bidyabil village in Indian territory.”

“They attacked and injured local villagers…and killed one villager," it said, adding that other villagers arrived and resisted the attackers. The authorities found “two smugglers dead,” and a third succumbed to his injuries, according to a statement by the ministry.

The statement said: “This incident underscores the need for Bangladesh to undertake necessary measures to uphold the sanctity of the international boundary and support the construction of fencing where needed to prevent cross-border crimes and smuggling.”