Agartala, Oct 30 (IANS): The Border Security Force (BSF) Thursday handed over to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) the bodies of three cattle thieves from the country who were lynched by irate villagers in Tripura, officials said here.

"A commandant-level flag meeting was held between the BSF and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Wednesday. After the post-mortem examination, the bodies of the three Bangladeshi nationals were handed over to the BGB officials," a BSF official said.

A group of Bangladeshi cattle thieves had entered Gopalnagar village in Khowai district Tuesday night.

"When the villagers chased them, most of the intruders managed to cross over to Bangladesh. Three were caught and two of them hacked to death on the spot by angry villagers," Tripura Police spokesman Uttam Bhowmik told reporters.

"Another Bangladeshi, who was seriously injured in the mob attack, succumbed to his injuries later in a hospital," he said.

Bhanu Debbarma, a 60-year-old villager, was injured when the fleeing Bangladeshi thieves fired at the villagers.

Police said the deceased men were from Bangladesh's Habiganj district.

This was the second such incident this year in the district. Three Bangladeshi cattle thieves were lynched in Gournagar area April 6.