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Bangladesh, Indian border troops exchange fire after BSF kills illegal migrant
Tension is prevailing at the Surjapur village, located along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengals Darjeeling district, after the Indian and Bangladeshi border security forces exchanged fire yesterday.The incident took place after Border Security Forces (BSF) personnel shot dead a Bangladeshi national, who was trying to illegally sneak into Indian Territory, provoking Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) to exchange fire with the BSF. After killing the alleged intruder, R.P. Daga, Company Commander of BSF, said that they would take action as per the law and would hand over the body to the police and would lodge a case. The BDR, however, ruled out that the person killed was a Bangladeshi national and refused to accept the body. It (body) is not from our country. If it would have been from our side then there would have been a lot of hue and cry in our side, said Subedar Abdur Sattar of Bangladesh Rifles. This was the fourth incident within a fortnight, when the border forces of the two countries exchanged fire. India has been deploying thousands of new troops on its frontier with Bangladesh and setting up hundreds of border posts to check illegal migration and movement of armed militants. New Delhi began to bolster its eastern border defences in last September to crack down on militants moving in from Bangladesh, although Dhaka denies anti-India elements are using its soil. India and Bangladesh share a 4,096-km (2,544-mile) frontier, regarded as one of the worlds most fluid borders. It is guarded by about 45,000 troops of the BSF. New Delhi estimates there are up to 20 million illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in India -- mostly poor people who come in search of jobs. The normally friendly relations between India and Bangladesh have sometimes been marred by border skirmishes. Posted by: john 2006-04-16 |
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