Bangladeshi killed in firing by Myanmar border force

A Bangladeshi fisherman was killed and another injured when Myanmar's border guards opened fire on them at the Teknaf border of Cox's Bazar yesterday.

The dead is Nurul Amin, 32, of Teknaf.

The shooting occurred around 6:30am when Nurul along with two other fishermen was fishing in the Naf river.

Nurul Mustafa, 32, was hit by a bullet while Md Hashim escaped unhurt after jumping into the river.

“We were fishing at Moulvipara point of the Naf river when a team of Myanmar's Border Guard Police [BGP] came on a speedboat and opened fire,” said Hashim.

He, with the help of some locals, took the two injured to Teknaf Upazila Health Complex.

Sohab Das, emergency medical officer at the health complex, said Nurul died of excessive bleeding before being taken to the hospital. Mustafa was later shifted to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital as his condition deteriorated.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) lodged a protest with the BGP over the shooting incident, said Captain Abuzar Al Jahid of Teknaf BGB Battalion-2.

“The BGP claimed that its members opened fire as the fishermen were crossing the border line defying the patrol team's signal,” he told journalists quoting BGP officials.

Legal actions can be taken for trespassing, but firing shots at people like this is against the law, Jahid added.

The BGB was preparing a protest letter to the BGP for violating international laws, he said.

In December last year, Myanmar Navy opened fire on six Bangladeshi fishermen near the St Martin's Island. The foreign ministry had summoned the Myanmar envoy in Dhaka and handed him a protest note over the incident.