Bangladeshi national killed on suspicion of cattle-smuggling in Nadia

The personnel tried to stop a group of six or seven smugglers coming from Bangladesh, taking advantage of the darkness and thick banana orchards

A Bangladeshi national was killed along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal’s Nadia district on suspicion of cattle-smuggling, a BSF statement said on Wednesday. The deceased was identified as Ariful Mandal alias Arye from village Shamkur in Jhenaidah district. The body has been handed to the Hanskhali police station in Nadia.

A press statement by the South Bengal Frontier of the Border Security Force (BSF) said, “Sensing threat to life, in self-defence, maintaining restraint the BSF jawan fired non lethal ammo (ammunition) with pump action gun. Smuggler fled away towards the Bangladesh side taking advantage of extreme darkness. On thorough search of the area a dead body of a person (was) found lying in mustard field approx 400m from international boundary well inside Indian territory,’ the BSF press statement said.

The incident occurred near the border outpost Pakhiura, 08 battalion, under Sector Krishnanagar of the South Bengal Frontier of the BSF. The BSF press statement said that the personnel at the border outpost tried to stop a group of six or seven smugglers who came taking advantage of the darkness and the thick banana orchards.  The statement added that the “smugglers attacked the jawans with sharp- edged weapons (dah)”.

There have been several incidents where nationals from both India and Bangladesh have been killed along the international border. Smuggling of cattle, narcotics, gold and even household items are carried along the border. Human rights groups, however, have raised questions on the frequent killings. The border-guarding forces have maintained that those killed have been involved in cross- border smuggling. In some incidents, the BSF personnel have sustained injuries in the attack. West Bengal shares a 2,216 km border with Bangladesh, of which the South Bengal Frontier of the BSF guards 913 km of the international border from the Sundarbans in the south to Malda in the north.