Bangladeshi villager shot dead by BSF

The Indian Border Security Force entered Bangladesh territory and shot dead a Bangladeshi and injured another along Lalmonirhat border on Thursday night.

The BSF members also tortured four other Bangladeshis.

The dead, Abdur Rahim, 32, son of Kashem Ali of Aditmari upazila's Chawratari village, died on the way to hospital. The injured, Sultan Miah, 30, of the same village, is now undergoing treatment at Rangpur Medical College Hospital

Locals said the BSF men crossed the no-man's land of Durgapur border around 8:30pm while chasing some cattle smugglers. They then opened fire on a group of Chawratari villagers, leaving two people bullet-hit.

The Indian border force also tortured four other Bangladeshis, including a woman, as they protested against the illegal entrance of BSF troopers into Bangladesh. The four took first aid, they said.

The BSF men took away four cattle from a farmer's cattle shed, the villagers alleged.

The tortured woman, Shahida Begum, said hearing the sound of gunshots, they rushed to the spot. 

Five patrolling BSF men of Singimari camp of West Bengal's Cooch Behar chased some cattle smugglers and entered Chawratari village, around one kilometre off the border's no-man's land, said Havildar Yusuf Ali, Durgapur BGB camp commander. 

“We were informed [about the incident] by the villagers, but the BSF men had left the village before we reached the spot at night,” he said.

A letter was sent to the BSF, protesting the killing and injuring of Bangladeshis after entering Bangladesh, said Lt Col Bazlur Rahman Hayati, commanding officer of Lalmonirhat 15 BGB Battalion.

He said a flag meeting was called in this regard.

However, the Indian border force did not response to the Border Guard Bangladesh's call, said Havildar Yusuf.