Three Bangladeshi nationals, who had allegedly crossed the border in Assam’s Karimganj district to steal cows, were lynched by locals on Saturday, The Indian Express reported.

Kumar Sanjit Krishna, the district’s superintendent of police, said the incident took place at Bogrijan Tea Estate under Patharkandi police station. “On inquiry, it is revealed that the said Bangladeshi nationals crossed the border with a motive to steal cows from the Bogrijan area,” he added. “They were lynched by the locals who are yet to be identified.”

Krishna said the items recovered from the deceased include rope, bag, wires and fence-cutters. The follow-up process to hand over the bodies of the three men to the Bangladeshi authorities has started, the police said.

This was the second lynching incident in Karimganj district in less than two months. On June 1, a 43-year-old Bangladeshi national was killed in Putni Tea Estate for allegedly attempting to steal cows. He had come with three Bangladeshis and two Indians.