2 Bangladeshis shot dead in BSF firing in Lalmonirhat

Staff Reporter :
The border killing seems unabated as two more Bangladeshi nationals were killed along the Lalmonirhat border on Wednesday, though the Indian government has repeatedly promised to bring such incidents to zero level.
The two Bangladeshi nationals were killed by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) along the Mohishtoli border of Bhelabari Union of Aditmari Upazila on Wednesday morning, Officer-in-Charge of Aditmari Police Station Moqtarul Islam said.
The deceased were Waiz Kuruni, 33, son of Sanwar Hossain from Mohishtoli village, and Ainal Haque, 27, son of Sadeq Ali from Jharirjhar village.
Police said that relatives brought back the bodies from the border area. The bodies received bullets in neck and chest and were sent to Lalmonirhat Sadar Hospital for postmortem.
Chairman of Bhelabari Union Parishad Mohammad Ali said, “A number of Bangladeshi including Waiz and Ainal went to the border to bring cows from India on Thursday night. When the BSF fired bullets, the two of them were killed on the spot.”
The rest of their companies brought their bodies to their houses after giving news of their death, he added.
Lt Col Touhidul Islam of Lalmonirhat 15 BGB Battalion said that they had sent a letter protesting the killing of two Bangladeshis. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) also urged for a flag meeting with the BSF in this connection.
To reduce the border killing to zero, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the latter’s visit to India in September to cut such incidents to zero.
But it was witnessed that such border killing took place in Dinajpur border when Sheikh Hasina did not finish her four-day state visit with Narendra Modi in Delhi.
At that time a 17-year-old Bangladeshi boy was shot dead by BSF along Dainur border in Dinajpur Sadar Upazila on September 7.
Later Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said that such an incident was ‘painful and shocking’ for the family members and for the countrymen as well.
The incidents of border killings are taking place off and on despite promises from the friendly neighbour India.
On October 9, BSF killed a Bangladeshi Abu Hasan, 27, in Satkhira Sadar Upazila border.
Whenever the high-profile meeting takes place between Bangladesh and India, border killing becomes one of the major items on the agenda to talk on the issue to reduce it to zero level.
In July, during a five-day meeting between BGB and BSF in Pilkhana in the capital, they agreed to bring down the border killing, injuring or beating of unarmed nationals of both countries to zero by adopting extra precautionary measures along the international border.
But despite such assurances from different quarters, the border killing is not showing the sign of zero level.
According to the statistics of the BGB headquarters, 161 Bangladeshis were killed by BSF between January 2015 and June 2022.
The data of Ain o Salish Kendra showed that at least 23 people were killed along the India-Bangladesh border between January 2021 and June 2022.