Published 17:00 IST, October 18th 2019
BSF Jawan Killing: 'Our men have not fired any bullet', says official
BSF condemns Bangladesh's action and said it was unprovoked. The firing by the BGB had killed one Jawan and injured the other. BGB also issued a statement.
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The Border Security Force (BSF) condemned Bangladesh's action of killing their trooper and injuring another along the Indo-Bangla border in West Bengal on October 18. According to the BSF, the action was unprovoked and the Indian side of troops did not fire even "a single bullet" when a flag meeting took place between both sides. A senior BSF official has rejected the claims made by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) that the BGB "had to open fire in self-defence amid gunfire by the BSF men."
'Our men have not fired a single bullet'- BSF official
"Our men have not fired a single bullet. It was an unprovoked action by the BGB that killed the BSF jawan and injured other," the official said. According to the BGB, the BSF personnel had intruded into Bangladesh's territory, they were told that they would be handed over to the authorities after the proposed meeting. A late-night statement was issued by the BGB in Dhaka, according to the statement, the situation created panic among the Indian border guards.
"The BSF men then turned furious and opened gunfire and started going back to their (Indian) territory," the BGB alleged.
Countering the claims made by the Border Guard Bangladesh, BSF said that the force party of 6 troops had entered 400 meters into the international border across the Padma river in Murshidabad district as that was the "designated place for a flag meeting."
"When BGB requests BSF for flag meeting, we go inside the territory of Bangladesh. When we call BGB for a flag meeting, they enter inside our territory at a designated point," he said.
The statement issued by the BGB had said that their patrol team tried to detain three Indian fishermen who had entered into Bangladesh waters in an engine-run boat, but two of them managed to flee. The BGB further stated that four-armed BSF men, including one in uniform, intruded into Bangladesh in a speedboat to take away the detained fisherman. The BSF also defended its post commander of the local area wearing shorts during the flag meeting, saying it is a requirement of that special geographical area.
"Out of 6 BSF troops, one was in civil dress and post commander was wearing camouflage T-shirt and shorts below. Since the area is muddy and riverine, most of the time men remain in shorts and sandals," the officer said. A senior Border Security Force officer in Delhi said the troops "did not try to forcibly take away the lone fisherman from the custody of BGB as they had gone for flag meeting inside Bangladesh territory on getting a call from the BGB."
The BSF official also denied the fact the BGB was ablet to apprehend only one Indian fisherman while two others managed to flee from the spot.
According to the BSF official, the BGB had apprehended all the three fishermen and had also seized all their paraphernalia. A while later, the Border Guard Bangladesh sent back two fishermen in the dingy belonging to Indian fishermen with the direction to call BSF post commander for flag meeting so that the Indian fisherman can be released. When there was a telephonic talk between the commanding officers of the two sides, post the incident on Thursday, the counterpart "did not say that BSF men had either violated the IB or entered inside Bangladesh territory," the BSF officer added.
The detained fisherman continues to remain in the BGB custody.
The incident by the BGB created a widespread uproar in the country as a 51-year-old head constable Vijay Bhan Singh was killed and constable Rajvir Yadav was injured in the firing triggered by the Border Guard Bangladesh. Post the incident of October 17, Security has been beefed up along the 4,096 km long India-Bangladesh border from both the sides.
(With inputs from PTI)
12:10 IST, October 18th 2019