A suspected cow smuggler was killed during an exchange of fire with the local villagers here, police said.
A vehicle was roaming in the area past midnight which made the villagers suspected. When they started following them, they saw the vehicle carrying four cows. The inhabitants of the vehicle then started firing at them when they tried to stop them, Police Superintendent Arun Kumar said.
The villagers in turn returned the fire and the suspected smuggler allegedly got injured, he said.
The locals handed over the injured smuggler to the police who died before he could be taken to the hospital, they said, adding the deceased has been identified as Shahabuddin.
Circle officer Piyush Kumar Singh said, " the region has a massive presence of cattle smugglers and clashes of them with locals and police are often reported in the area.
