Man killed in BSF firing on suspected smugglers at Bangladesh border: Tripura police

A police officer in Sepahijala district said additional forces had been deployed in the area to avoid the escalation of tension. The officer said the incident occurred at 9.30 pm near the NC Nagar border outpost in Sonamura, where the BSF noticed some smugglers. The officer said that BSF jawans opened fire in self-defence after a scuffle broke out when they tried to intervene.

“Both Kabil Miah and Saheed Miah were brought to the hospital (in Sepahijala district) with serious injuries. Both had critical bullet injuries,” said Dr Partha Pratim Das, who was on duty at the time.

They were later taken to the Melagarh hospital, where Saheed Miah succumbed to the injuries. Kabil was shifted to the Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital in Agartala for better treatment.

According to Saheed Miah’s family members, however, he was involved in road construction work. “Saheed was standing outside his home when the BSF shot him dead,” said one of them.

“A case is yet to be registered. We haven’t got any complaint from the villagers so far,” said a senior officer from the police headquarters.

On March 17, the BSF killed a Bangladeshi smuggler at Magroli in Kailashahar in Unakoti district. Two BSF personnel were injured in the incident.

Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on three sides and parts of the 856-km border are still unfenced.

BSF says firing followed mob attack

A BSF public relations officer said in a statement on Thursday that a group of around 30-40 Indian smugglers, violating curfew imposed in the bordering areas, tried to smuggle contraband to Bangladesh near Nutanbari in Sonamura.

“When BSF troops challenged them, the mob gheraoed and started shouting maro salo ko. The mob further tried to snatch the weapons from troops on duty, vandalize BSF duty point, and damaged surveillance equipment apart from attacking the BSF personnel with dao (machetes) and other sharp-edged deadly weapons, causing grievous injury to 3 BSF jawans,” the statement said.

The PRO also said that a jawan sustained deep cuts on his back and chest as well as injuries on his face and neck when one of the attackers tried to hit him on the head with a machete.

“Sensing imminent danger to life and threat to government property, BSF troops fired in self-defence to disperse the violent mob. The situation was defused with timely reinforcement of BSF troops and police from Sonamura police station,” the statement added.

The statement further said that two civilians sustained injuries in the incident and that one of them died later while the other was undergoing treatment.