Bangladesh shares a 4,000-kilometer land border with India. The Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram share a border with Bangladesh. West Bengal and Bangladesh share a total of 2216 kilometres. Two alleged Bangladeshi smugglers were slain by Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers along the border area in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar. The incident took place at Sitai in Cooch Behar district around 3 am on Friday.
While miscreants from Bangladesh tried to smuggle cattle into India using a makeshift bamboo cantilever, the BSF soldiers noticed the men. “BSF troops utilised non-lethal munition to deter the miscreants, but they attacked with iron dah and sticks causing injuries to the troops,” read a BSF statement.
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The BSF warned them to return, but the criminals ignored the order. The BSF personnel then used non-lethal munition to discourage the miscreants. However, they attacked with iron dah and sticks in return. Sensing an impending threat to their lives, the BSF party opened fire in the air at the miscreants. Later, between the border fence and the International Boundary, the bodies of two (three according to the police) unknown miscreants were discovered.
Local police, on the other hand, said that suspected livestock smugglers battled with BSF forces about 2 am in Satbhandari village in Sitai. “Three bodies were found and have been shifted from the spot. As per our preliminary investigation, all three persons died in the course of the same incident,” Cooch Behar SP Sumit Kumar said.
According to the police, BSF troops opened fire with their service weapons, killing two people on the scene. The BSF stated that its soldiers fired in self-defence and to prevent the accused smugglers from leaving after they began hurling stones at them.
