WB-BSF-FIR

FIR against Border Guard Bangladesh over BSF jawan's killing
    Kolkata, Oct 19 (PTI) An FIR has been lodged against
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) by its Indian counterpart Border
Security Force (BSF) over the killing one of its jawans
earlier this week, a senior police officer said.
    A Bangladeshi border guard on Thursday fired from his
AK-47 rifle during a 'flag meeting' along the international
boundary in West Bengal, killing BSF head constable Vijay Bhan
Singh (51) and injuring another jawan, Rajvir Yadav.
    A BSF statement said the incident took place in
Murshidabad district around 9 am when a force party approached
the BGB troops, standing at a "char" or a riverine in the
middle of the Padma river, to resolve an issue linked to
Indian fishermen.
    "Yes, we have received a complaint from the BSF. A
case has been registered and investigation is on," Murshidabad
Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar said.
    The BSF officials, too, confirmed that police have
lodged an FIR against the BGB.
    Refuting claims by the Bangladeshi border force that
its patrol team "had to open fire in self-defence", a senior
official of the BSF said not a single bullet was fired from
the Indian side.
    "Although an inquiry has been ordered by the BSF, we
still decided to lodge a complaint with the police, in
accordance with the norms. The allegation by the BGB that we
had fired first is not just absurd but a blatant lie. We
didn't fire a single bullet," a senior BSF official said.
    Officials had said that the trouble arose when BGB
personnel held three Indian fishermen who were allowed by the
BSF to fish within the International Border, that runs through
the middle of the 3-km-wide Padma river.
    The BGB team later freed two fishermen and informed
the BSF that the third person has been held by them and that
was when the BSF post commander of the 117th battalion, a
sub-inspector, took a six-member party on a motor-boat to
resolve the issue, they said.
    Shortly after, a BGB jawan identified only as Sayed
fired from behind, killing Bhan Singh.
    A senior BSF officer in Delhi said on Friday that the
troops "did not try to forcibly take away the lone fisherman
from the custody of Border Guard Bangladesh. They had gone for
flag meeting inside Bangladesh territory on getting a call
from the BGB."
    The officer added that during a telephonic talk
between the commanding officers of the two sides, post the
incident, the counterpart "did not say that BSF men had either
violated the IB or entered inside Bangladesh territory."
    Security has been stepped up along the 4,096-km Indo-
Bangla border in the wake of Thursday's incident.
    The lone fisherman, Pranab Mondal, is still in
Bangladesh police custody. PTI PNT
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)