BSF shot dead 2 Bangladeshis

Indian Border Security Force shot dead two Bangladeshi cattle "smugglers" along Diar Manik Char border in Godagari upazila of Rajshahi early yesterday.

The two, Esharul Islam, 28, and his cousin Abu Nasrat, 29, were residents of Char Bhubanpara of the upazila, said officials of the Border Guard Bangladesh.

The BGB in a flag meeting with BSF protested the killings and said the shootings were against human rights and in violation of the Indo-Bangla agreement that prohibits killings at the border, said Lt Col Shamim Masud Al Iftekhar, director of BGB 1 Battalion in Rajshahi.

The shooting took place around 3:00am when the Bangladeshi smugglers allegedly intruded into Indian territory to collect consignments of cattle from their Indian counterparts.

The BSF members of Diar Manik Char of Indian Murshidabad district claimed that they opened fire after the smugglers from both countries swooped on three BSF members at the border, Shamim said quoting BSF officials.

The BSF claimed that an Indian citizen also received bullet injuries.

BGB recovered the body of Esharul Islam from inside Bangladesh territory. The body was later sent to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital for an autopsy.

BSF members recovered the body of Nasrat from the barbed wire fence and agreed at the flag meeting to return it.

The flag meeting took place in Kodalkati area around noon. Lt Col Shamim led BGB team while BSF 4 Battalion commander Amrit Singh led the BSF team.

Meanwhile, Ain o Salish Kendra yesterday condemned the killing of two Bangladeshis by the BSF.

In a press statement, the rights body also urged Bangladesh and India to take immediate initiatives to stop border killings.