The Indian border security force (BSF) explained Wednesday's gunfire incident at the border that saw the death of a Bangladeshi boy.
The deceased was identified as Minhajul Islam, son of Jahangir Hossain of Khanpur (Bhitarpara) village in Dinajpur Sadar upazila and a class nine student of Khanpur High School, said Abu Bakar Siddique, chairman of Khanpur Union.
“On 07 September 2022, a BSF patrol party was performing duties in AOR of BOP Hariharpur 174 Bn RGJ. At about 2105 hrs, they observed about 09-10 Bangladeshi smugglers approaching the Fence to receive some consignment.
“The patrol team challenged them to stop but the smugglers started abusing the team and also tried to cordon/encircle one of the BSF jawans. On observing the jawan being cordoned, his colleague threw a Stun Grenade to disperse the smugglers but smugglers did not pay any heed and closed their cordon more tightly.
“On seeing the aggression of the smugglers, the jawan fired one round of PAG in the air, but the smugglers tightened the cordon on the jawan. To deescalate the situation, the jawan again fired another round of PAG towards the smugglers. Despite several warnings the smugglers did not pay heed and tried to capture the jawan and his weapon.
“The weapon was fired in self defence by the jawan when the smugglers tried to grab his rifle and the bullet directly hit the smuggler who was holding his rifle. Resultantly one smuggler died on the spot.
“On hearing the sound of firing and seeing their associate hit by gunshot, all the other smugglers escaped towards the Bangladesh side by taking the advantage of darkness and undulating terrain.
“On search of the nearby area, a wire cutter, an Iron rod, 03 Packets of Tortoise Skin, 50 Bottles of Phensedyl and 02 Mobile phones were also recovered at the site. A thorough search of the whole area is being carried out.
“While a flag meeting is expected to be called today by the border forces of both sides on the issue, communication is ongoing between the two border forces. Identity of the smuggler is yet to be confirmed by BGB authorities,” read the statement.
