Bangladeshi cattle smugglers again attacked the jawans of BSF Border Outpost Madhubana with sharp-edged weapons in the area of the sector headquarters Berhampur under South Bengal Frontier in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. In the intervening night of 22/23 June 6-7 Bangladeshi miscreants tried to smuggle cattle. The BSF jawans stationed at the border outpost of Madhubana, 73 Battalion gave a befitting reply and successfully foiled the attempt of cattle smuggling through firing in self-defense and drove the Bangladeshi smugglers back to Bangladesh. During the search of the incident site, two medium-sized bulls and a sharp-edged dagger were recovered.
According to the information, the jawans of the 146 Battalion, Border Outpost Madhubana, under the Sector Headquarters Berhampur, during their second shift duty in the unfenced area, noticed suspicious activity of 5-6 miscreants with 2 cattle who were moving ahead to cross the international border. The jawans on duty challenged them to stop and ran towards them to catch the smugglers. At the same time, 6 to 7 smugglers from Bangladesh forcefully entered India and threatened the jawan and moved towards him brandishing sharp weapons. The jawan fired 1 stun grenade to stop the smuggling, but it had no effect on the miscreants and they surrounded the jawan and attacked him with sharp weapons. The jawan, while protecting himself and having no other option, fired 2 rounds from the PAG towards the miscreants in self-defense. On hearing the sound of the fire, the miscreants took advantage of the darkness and the tall crops of reeds and jute fields and fled towards Bangladesh. By then the rest of the jawans also reached the spot and searched the entire area, where they found 2 medium-sized bulls, two sharp-edged weapons. The possibility of any miscreant getting injured in the firing done in self-defense cannot be ruled out.
It should be noted that this entire area is without fencing, due to which BSF jawan have to face a lot of difficulties. The smugglers get a lot of benefit from dense tall crops and rough land in this entire area.
After this incident, a meeting was held with Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB), where strong protest was registered against the incident of unprovoked deadly attack by Bangladeshi smugglers. A primary report has also been registered in the concerned police station regarding the attack and the firing done in defense.
Apart from this, such attacks have also taken place under South Bengal Frontier at Border Outpost Bamanabad in sector Headquarters Berhampur, 73 Battalion and Border Outpost Horandipur and Matiyari of 32 Battalion in sector Headquarters Krishnanagar, whereas such attacks took place at 4 places in sector Headquarters Kolkata where jawans, in self-defense, fired at Bangladeshi smugglers with rifles, PAGs and stun grenades. Every day 3 to 4 such incidents take place in the area under the responsibility of South Bengal Frontier, in which soldiers often get seriously injured.
A.K. Arya, DIG, PRO, BSF South Bengal Frontier said, “Unfortunately such incidents are not uncommon in our line of duty. BSF jawans are performing their duties with exceptional courage and vigilance. In spite of frequent flag meetings with BGB to alert them about frequent attacks and illegal infiltration by Bangladeshi criminals, no concrete action has been taken by them. This inaction has emboldened the smugglers and criminals. Nevertheless, our jawans are resolute in protecting our borders and ensuring the security of our nation under all circumstances.