Meerut, Apr 22 (IANS): The family of the meat smugglers who were killed in an ambush by 'militants' in Assam, has alleged that the two were 'murdered as part of the police conspiracy.'

Peeru Banjara, the father of Akbar Banjara and Salman, told reporters, "It was a conspiracy by the police to trap my sons and kill them. They weren't doing anything illegal and the extortion case in which Meerut police arrested them was also a fictitious one. They had no case against them here or in Assam."

The bodies of Akbar and Salman reached Meerut's Falawda village on Thursday evening where their funeral took place in the presence of a large crowd.

Akbar, 40, allegedly ran an international syndicate of meat supply chain and carried a reward of Rs 2 lakh on his head in Assam, the police said.

He and his two brothers were arrested in an alleged extortion case in Meerut on April 12.

Two days later, Assam police reached Meerut with a warrant against Akbar and Salman and took them away. They were produced before a magistrate in Assam's Kokrajhar and put behind bars.

According to local police, the two were remanded in police custody on Monday.

Later in the night, while they were being taken for 'further investigation' inside Raimona National Park near Bhutan border, in Kokrajhar and a 'gunfight' took place with militants in which both the accused were killed and four cops sustained bullet injuries, police claimed.