Bangladesh Protests As National Killed By Indian Border Forces

DHAKA, March 9 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) conveyed a protest Saturday to its Indian counterpart for the killing of a Bangladeshi national in the northern border district of Panchagarh, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported. 

The victim was killed by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) at the Bhitargarh border in Panchagarh Sadar town in the district early Saturday, according to officials.

The BGB held a meeting with the BSF and protested the killing as there is bilateral consensus of not using lethal weapons on the border, BGB officials confirmed to Anadolu, citing Sheikh Mohammad Badruddoja, commander of the 56th BGB Battalion of Nilphamari.

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 The shooting took place 160 yards (489 feet) from the border pillar in India, it reported.

“When contacted, the BSF Commandant said that approximately 15 to 20 smugglers from both countries were smuggling cattle from India to Bangladesh. The smuggler and the BSF member got into a fight and at one stage the smuggler hit the BSF member with a knife.

“In such a situation, the BSF fired two rounds in self-defence. And, a Bangladeshi citizen was killed in the said fire,” according to a BGB statement.

BGB protested and said that “whatever the situation, the BSF has violated human rights through border killings, which is unexpected and unacceptable in any way.”

“A strong protest letter has been sent to the battalion commander level in this regard,” it added.

The BSF, however, assured the BGB that such incidents would not happen in the future, it said.

The neighbouring countries share a 4,096-kilometre (2,545-mile) border, one of the longest land borders in the world. India fenced 3,271 kilometres (2,032 miles) of the border area.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU