On Sunday, February 26, two Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers were seriously injured and their weapons snatched after more than a hundred Bangladeshi villagers attacked them with sharp-edged weapons in a field along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal. According to the BSF, the incident occurred at the Nirmalchar border outpost while two jawans from the 35th battalion were patrolling it. The BSF has lodged an FIR.
According to reports, the incident happened when the jawans stopped the Bangladeshi farmers from bringing their cattle to India.
Photos shared by the BSF-South Bengal Frontier showed deep cuts on the heads of the jawans and their uniforms soaked in blood.
“BSF jawans of border outpost Nirmalchar were on duty when they stopped Bangladeshi farmers from bringing their cattle to the fields of Indian farmers.
“Immediately, more than a hundred villagers and miscreants from Bangladesh entered the Indian side and attacked the jawans with sticks and sharp-edged weapons (Dahs),” a BSF spokesperson for South Bengal frontier headquartered in Kolkata said.
According to reports, two soldiers on duty on the border stopped Bangladeshi farmers from bringing their cattle to India. Within minutes, over a hundred Bangladeshi villagers and miscreants entered the Indian side and attacked the jawans with sticks and sharp weapons.
The two jawans were critically hurt in the incident. The miscreants fled with the soldiers’ weapons. Other BSF jawans arrived at the scene after receiving information and evacuated the injured jawans to the nearest hospital for treatment.
BSF accused the Border Guards Bangladesh of taking “no concrete action” to prevent such instances
The BSF officers informed the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) of the incident and requested that a flag meeting be held to recover the jawans’ weapons from the Bangladeshi miscreants and to ensure that such instances do not occur again.
The BSF accused the BGB of taking “no concrete action” to prevent such instances despite being aware of “several incidents” of Indian farmers’ crops being destroyed as Bangladeshis forcibly brought their livestock to graze on Indian soil.
“When smugglers and people with criminal intent do not achieve success in their illegal activities across the border, they attack the jawans. BSF jawans have been attacked several times in the past by miscreants and their accomplices in a planned manner, but still, the jawans do not let their plans succeed,” the spokesperson of the South Bengal Frontier said.
“The area of Nirmalchar is very difficult, and despite the lack of facilities, the BSF jawans are guarding the border day and night. Indian farmers have been complaining about the theft and damage to their crop by Bangladeshi villagers and this time, the BSF has set a forward post to protect them while they work in their fields,” the spokesperson added.
Notably, on-duty Border Security Force (BSF) officers are frequently attacked across the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal, especially by Bangladeshi cattle smugglers operating along the international border with Bangladesh. Last month, a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan was severely injured after smugglers attacked him at the Indo-Bangla border in the Nadia district of West Bengal. The incident happened when Bangladeshi smugglers tried to enter India illegally