Four days after battling severe injuries sustained during an attack by suspected cattle smugglers along the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura, Border Security Force (BSF) officer Deepal Mondal died on Friday morning in Kolkata.

After battling severe injuries sustained during an attack by suspected cattle smugglers along the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura for four days, Border Security Force (BSF) officer Deepal Mondal died on Friday morning in Kolkata.

The second-in-command rank officer, Deepak K Mondal, commanding the 145th battalion of the border guarding force, air evacuated to Kolkata on Monday due to critical injuries.

DG and all ranks #BSF salute Shaheed Deepak Kumar Mandal Second in Command.

Officer breathed his last today 1145 hrs in Kolkata

1/n pic.twitter.com/FNkH5BHxNG — BSF (@BSF_India) October 20, 2017

Mondal was patrolling the "unfenced" area near the Belardeppa border post in the Sipahijala district with his team to keep a check on illegal activities on 16 October.

When he spotted the cattle smugglers' vehicle, he tried to stop them. The smugglers, who were carrying bricks, lathis and machetes, tried to gherao Mondal and his team.

Mondal sustained severe injury to his head and legs when the smuggler's allegedly hit him from behind with a four-wheeler.

Tripura Police on Monday seized the vehicle and arrested the driver and are looking for two more assailants.

On April 16, 2005, BSF's Assistant Commandant Jeevan Kumar was dragged into Bangladesh territory by a group of smugglers while supervising security at Lankamura, on the outskirts of the capital city, and was knifed before being shot dead.

The mutilated body of the young BSF official was returned the next day after a fierce exchange of fire between the BSF and Bangladesh Rifles (now Border Guards Bangladesh).

Tripura shares a 856-km border with Bangladesh, with large parts of the border being riverine, mountainous and unfenced, which helps illegal immigrants, intruders and smugglers to cross over easily.

With inputs from agencies