Fewer deaths as BSF using non-lethal weapons

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud yesterday said there were fewer deaths at the border because of the use of non-lethal weapons by the Indian Border Security Force.

"Many more non-lethal weapons are now used than before. That is why many get injured and then return to Bangladesh. Otherwise, the death toll could be higher," he told reporters at the foreign ministry yesterday.

According to rights body Ain O Salish Kendra, 31 Bangladeshis were killed in BSF shootings last year, the highest since 2020 when the number was 47.

Hasan Mahmud said during his recent visit to India, he urged the authorities to ensure that non-lethal weapons are used by the BSF.

Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) has protested against the recent killings of a Bangladeshi at the border in Lalmonirhat and another in Naogaon, he said.

Citing BSF's account of the incident in Lalmonirhat, he said some Bangladeshis cut the barbed wire fence to enter Indian territory around 10:00pm on March 25.

The Bangladeshis outnumbered the BSF men, he said, adding that as the Bangladeshis encircled the BSF men who tried to stop them, the latter opened fire injuring two.

"One of the injured came back to Bangladesh and the other one was admitted to a hospital in India. He died there."

In Naogaon, a man who entered India was shot dead on March 26, he said, adding that BGB already held a meeting with the BSF and protested the incident.

According to our correspondent in Lalmonirhat, the BSF on Wednesday night returned the body of Liton Mia, 18, who was shot dead by BSF.

Liton was buried at his village in Durgapur Union Parishad of Aditmari upazila.

Local Union Parishad Chairman Asaduzzaman Nannu told The Daily Star that BSF was supposed to return the body at Durgapur border of Aditmari upazila on Wednesday afternoon. But they handed over the body late at night.

Lt Colonel Mofazzal Hossain Akhand, commanding officer of BGB Battalion 15, said people living near the border should be aware of the dangers of illegally crossing the border.

UNB reports that the body of Bangladeshi farmer Al Amin, who was shot by the BSF along the Nitpur border in Porsha upazila of Naogaon on March 26, was also handed over to the BGB at Hapania area on Wednesday night, said Subedar Mahfuzur Rahman of the local BGB camp.