Agartala, Nov 7 (IANS): A thief from Bangladesh was lynched by an irate mob in Tripura, just over a week after three Bangladeshi cattle thieves were hacked to death in the state, police said Friday.

"A gang of six burglars came to the border village of Durgapur in Sipahijala district Thursday night. While they were fleeing back with the engines they removed from two parked auto-rickshaws, a villager saw them and alerted other people," a police officer said.

Many villagers immediately reached the spot, but most of the robbers managed to cross over to Bangladesh. One thief was caught and hacked to death by the villagers.

The deceased was identified as Ashed Mian, a 30-year-old citizen of Aryanapur village in Comilla district of Bangladesh.

Theft of vehicle engines by Bangladeshi robbers are rampant along the border towns and villages in India as these engines are used to mechanise boats.

Earlier on Oct 28, three Bangladeshi cattle thieves were lynched by an irate mob in Tripura. Tripura Police later handed over the bodies to Bangladesh police.

On April 6, three Bangladeshi cattle thives were also hacked to death at Gournagar village in western Tripura.