Bangladesh protests BSF killing of minor at India border

Dhaka: A controversy over the killing of a teenage Bangladeshi girl on the border with India took a fresh twist on Thursday when Dhaka sought to blame the Border Security Force (BSF) for the incident.

On Monday morning, BSF personnel in Tripura found the girl’s body with bullet injuries at the zero line ahead of the India-Bangladesh border fence. Indian officials said she was allegedly shot dead by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) while trying to enter India illegally.

The body was handed to the BGB on Tuesday evening, more than 24 hours after the Bangladeshi side refused to take it back and a flag meeting was held between the two forces.

On Thursday, Bangladesh’s foreign affairs contended in a protest note sent to the Indian mission in Dhaka that 13-year-old Shwarna Das, of Juri upazila of Moulvi Bazar district, was “shot and killed” by the BSF on September 1.

The Bangladeshi side said Das and her mother allegedly tried to cross the border into India through an illegal route with the help of human traffickers. They intended to visit Das’ brother in India.

There was no immediate word on the protest from the Indian side.

Bangladesh said such incidents are “undesirable and unwarranted” and violate the provisions of the Joint Indo-Bangladesh Guidelines for Border Authorities of 1975.

However, Indian officials said earlier they suspect the teenager may have been shot while trying to cross into India illegally.

A BSF official aware of the matter said: “Initially, BGB refused to take back the body. They said she is not from Bangladesh and may have been killed by the forces in India. But our probe revealed that she was from Kalaura police station area in Bangladesh.”

He added: “Most likely, she was shot and managed to run a few metres before collapsing on the zero line.”

While the Indian side has a border fence, there is no fence in Bangladesh. Since August 5, the day then premier Sheikh Hasina fled to India and Bangladesh witnessed political turmoil, thousands of Bangladesh nationals, many of them claiming to be Hindus, have attempted to enter India illegally, fearing persecution. Such infiltrators have been stopped at the border fence or at zero line by the BSF and returned to Bangladesh.

A day before the girl’s body was found, the BGB announced enhanced security measures along the border and two helplines where people could give information about those crossing the frontier illegally.

A senior BSF official said the force follows a non-lethal policy at the border. The officer, who asked not to be named, asserted the girl was shot dead by the BGB. “Despite so many cases of attempted intrusion since August 5, BSF has not used force in any case. In fact, all intruders are being apprehended and handed over to BGB after flag meetings,” he said.

More than two dozen people have been returned to Bangladesh after flag meetings at different border points.

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