BSF-BGB exchange fire on Chuadanga border, Bangladeshi youth injured
Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel exchanged fire on the Jibannagar border in Chuadanga. A Bangladeshi youth named Monirul Islam (26) was reportedly injured by BSF fire. He was later detained and admitted to a hospital in India, according to local sources.
The incident took place at around 7 pm on Friday (6 November) in the Medinipur border area of Jibannagar upazila.
Local residents claim that Monirul, a resident of Hariharnagar village in the upazila, was shot while attempting to smuggle gold. However, the BGB has not yet been able to confirm that he was injured.
According to local sources, after Friday evening, Monirul and six other Bangladeshis went in a small boat towards the barbed-wire fence on the border. At that time, BSF members from India's Tungi camp opened fire on them. Monirul was hit in the right leg. The other six jumped into the water of a nearby canal and escaped. BSF members then detained Monirul and took him inside India. Local sources claim he has been admitted to Krishnanagar District Hospital in West Bengal.
Major Toasin Habib Hasan, acting commander of 58 BGB, said that when the BSF fired one shot, the BGB fired two shots in return. However, whether any Bangladeshi citizen was injured by BSF fire is being examined.
He added that patrols and surveillance along the border have been stepped up after the incident. Contact is ongoing with the BSF at the commander level. A flag meeting at the company commander level is also scheduled to be held on Saturday at the zero line of the border.
Earlier, in a press release on Friday night, the BGB's Maheshpur battalion said that the sound of gunfire was heard near the barbed-wire fence inside India in the evening. On receiving the news, a BGB patrol team from Medinipur camp quickly reached the spot and fired back.
When asked about the incident, Solaiman Sheikh, officer-in-charge of Jibannagar Police Station, said he had heard about it, but had not yet received any formal information. The matter is being examined.
