The murder of three Bangladeshi nationals on suspicion of being cattle smugglers in Tripura is snowballing into a major diplomatic row between India and Bangladesh.

The trio were killed on Wednesday during a clash between the locals and alleged cattle smugglers in a border village in Khowai district.

The villagers noticed a group of suspected Bangladeshi cattle smugglers moving around close to the India-Bangladesh border.

"On being challenged, they attacked the villagers with lethal weapons and two locals were seriously injured. As the news spread, a large group of villagers chased the cattle lifters, caught and assaulted them while others managed to flee," Officer-in-charge of Champahower police station, Dilip Debbarma, told news agency PTI.

Bangladesh "Strongly protested" the inciden

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