The Border Guard Bangladesh shot dead an Indian national and injured another on the Indo-Bangla border area in Uttar Jamalpur (SNS photo) in South Dinajpur district late on Wednesday night. The dead has been identified as Masud Rana Mandal and the injured Amzad Ali Mandal, whoe is undergoing treatment in the Balurghat hospital. Following the death, officials of the Border Guard of Bangladesh and Border Security Force held a flag meeting at zero-point on Thursday.
According to local sources, the incident took place at around 11:30 pm, when a group of six people had gone to inspect a water pumping machine set up in the field near the zero-point on the Indo- Bangladesh border, where they were chased by BGB personnel. Most of them fled from the spot, but the two failed. Villagers at first tried to rescue the duo, but they had to step back due to the international border regulations. Later, BSF officials from the Gobindapur border outpost rushed to the spot and rescued the injured and recovered the body of Masud Rana Mandal, sources said.
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“Our village is near the zero-point and most of our agricultural land lies on the Bangladesh side. We have to go to Bangladesh every day. We have a water pump there. Bangladeshi miscreants often steal our pump set and crop. This is an unprovoked firing by the BGB,” a villager of Uttar Jamalpur, Md Saidul, said. Amzad Ali Mandal, who received a bullet injury on his leg, said, “BGB personnel fired on us as we carried pipes for the pump set.
They suddenly attacked us and fired three to four rounds.” “Senior officials have visited the place and have held a meeting with BSF officials. We have started investigations,” said the Superintendent of Police, South Dinajpur, Prasun Banerjee. Meanwhile, Sahe Islam Mandal, the father of the deceased, has lodged an FIR at the Hili police station.