2 killed as BGB opens fire on 'smugglers'

Two persons were killed and three others sustained bullet injuries as a BGB team opened fire on smugglers while raiding Birampur Railway Station yesterday afternoon, said police.

The dead are Mohammad Shahin, 28, son of Shukur Ali, and Mohammad Sultan, 24, son of Abdur Rashid of Colonypara in Birampur upazila.

Locals claimed that the two were innocents and used to run a tea stall in the station area.

Immediately after the incident, protesters blocked the Dinajpur-Dhaka highway near Kalabagan of the upazila.

A Border Guard Bangladesh official claimed that they had shot fire in self-defence after being attacked by smugglers during the regular raid.

Quoting witnesses, Mohammad Amiruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Birampur Police Station, said a team of Phulbari BGB 29 battalion raided Saidpur-bound “Rupsha Express” after it reached Birampur station around 5:00pm.

Later, illegally imported saris were found inside the train.

At the platform, a scuffle broke out between the smugglers and BGB men when they tried to seize the saris and detain the criminals.

At one point, the smugglers attacked the BGB team and tried to pick up one of its members, prompting the team to open fire, said Korban Ali, commanding officer of the BGB battalion.

He, however, could not say whether anyone was killed in the firing.

Witnesses said the shooting left the two dead on the spot and injured three others who are being treated at Birampur Upazila Health Complex.

The smugglers fled.

Police said the road blockade was withdrawn around 10:35pm.