BSF jawans gun down 2 Bangladeshi smugglers in Bengal

Kolkata, Nov 10: Border security force (BSF) jawans shot dead two cattle smugglers on Wednesday in Kaimiri in Coochbehar, West Bengal following their aggressive posture to attempt to smuggle cattle heads. The BSF said that the smugglers ignored the verbal warnings and tried to harm the security personnel.

Coochbehar is a border district in West Bengal. Cooch Behar district has 549.45 K.M. long Indo-Bangladesh border.

According to an official statement from BSF, "On 9th Nov 2022 alert, BSF troops deployed on the Indo-Bangladesh international border observed suspicious movement of 15-20 miscreants on Bangladesh side of the border fencing, who had illegally and willfully violated the santity of IB and were trying to smuggle cattle heads by erecting cantilever (Jhula) with the help of their Indian associates," as per an ANI report.

The BSF in its release said that the BSF jawans asked them to stop their unwarranted activities and return to their territory.

"Alert BSF Jawans challenged them to stop their unwarranted activities and return to Bangladesh territory. However Bangladeshi miscreants did not pay any heed to repeated verbal warnings," it added.

The official statement also said that the miscreants started encircling BSF personnel to inflict grave injuries.

"In order to foil the smuggling bid by the smugglers, BSF Jawan on duty initially lobbed 02 non-lethal stun grenades to deter and disperse the Bangladeshi miscreants, but the Bangladesh-based miscreants and their associates on the Indian side did not pay any heed and started encircling BSF personnel on duty equipped with sharp-edged weapons and bamboo sticks with an intention to inflict grave injuries to BSF personnel," it said.

The statement added, "On sensing a threat to life and finding no other means to save lives, one BSF Jawan fired from his service weapon upon the miscreants. Resultantly the miscreants fled away from the spot. BSF troops found one cantilever (Jhula) close to the fencing and a cattle head hanging in dead condition," the news agency quoted.