India’s Border Security Force (BSF) is accused of firing bullets and rubber bullets at a Bangladeshi man, Monirul Islam, 35, at the Jibannagar border in Chuadanga and taking him away.
Local sources said he was detained while wounded and taken inside India. There is still no confirmed information on whether he is alive.
The incident happened around 6pm on Friday (6 November) in India’s Putikhali area, opposite Hariharnagar village in Simanta union of Jibannagar upazila. Monirul Islam is the son of Liaquat Ali of Hariharnagar village.
Gunfire at the border
According to local sources, Monirul and six or seven others allegedly went near the border fence on Friday evening to smuggle gold. BSF members noticed them and fired bullets and rubber bullets. Monirul was reportedly hit in the leg by a bullet and in several places on his back by rubber bullets.
He fell to the ground. The six others with him jumped into a nearby canal and escaped. BSF members then detained the injured Monirul and took him into India, locals claim. Local sources said all six, local men aged 32, 35, 25, 26, 38 and 40, managed to get away.
Local representative and family
Titu, a former union parishad member from Hariharnagar, said locals heard several gunshots from near the border fence shortly after dusk. They later learned that Monirul had been shot and that BSF members had taken him away wounded. His physical condition, or whether he is alive, has not been confirmed.
Monirul’s family said they had heard about the incident but could not say for certain what condition he is in.
Police, BGB and a flag meeting
Solaiman Sheikh, officer-in-charge of Jibannagar Police Station, said they had heard of the incident but had received no official information yet, and the matter was being looked into.
Major Tahsin, second-in-command of 58 BGB, said they had received reports that the BSF had taken a person away after firing at the Hariharnagar border, but the detained person’s identity had not been confirmed. Details are being gathered, and a flag meeting with the BSF has been called for Saturday (7 November).
The detention after the firing has caused worry in Hariharnagar and nearby border areas, especially among Monirul’s family and neighbours, who want to know his actual condition and where he is. Locals hope the BGB-BSF flag meeting will establish the detained man’s identity, location and condition.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report