Agartala, Feb 1 (IANS): A 24-year-old student was allegedly killed by some BSF jawans in a village in Tripura along the India-Bangladesh border over suspicion that he was a cattle smuggler, police said.

A senior police official said that Jasim Mia was killed by the BSF troopers in the wee hours on Monday at Debipur village under Belonia sub-division in southern Tripura.

A BSF official said that their troopers fired in self defence as Jasim had attacked them with a sharp-edged weapon.

The BSF is yet to obtain further details about the incident.

Senior BSF officials have rushed to the spot and are investigating the incident.

The villagers and the deceased's family members said that Jasim had nothing to do with cattle smuggling and was grazing his cows in the field, which is close to the international border.

The incident sparked protests by the villagers.

Senior police officials with reinforcements have reached the spot, 135 km south of Agartala.

In recent years, the BSF has been using non-lethal weapons instead of traditional arms and using rubber bullets, rubber buckshot, soft polymer rounds or plastic bullets in dealing with border crimes.