No more killings at borders, say BGB and BSF at conference

The Indian and Bangladeshi border forces agreed to refrain from using lethal weapons while stepping up cooperation

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and India’s Border Security Force (BSF) have agreed to prevent shooting deaths on the Bangladesh-India border at the 54th DG Level Border Conference.

The five-day conference, held at Dhaka’s Peelkhana, ended on Saturday, bdnews24.com reports.

The directors general of both border forces and their delegations appeared before the media at 10 am on Saturday.

“Both sides have agreed that, from now on, there will be no more killings on the border – whether it is of a uniformed border guard, any innocent, or a common person. Neither Bangladesh nor India want any more loss of life. We will try our best to ensure it,” said BGB DG Maj Gen Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui.

BSF Director General Nitin Agrawal spoke of changing their weapons policy to reduce border killings to ‘zero’.

“We have come to a policy that refrains from the use of deadly weapons. To get the effective benefits of this policy, both sides have agreed to increase joint border patrols and exchange information on an immediate basis.”

Questions regarding the killing of BGB guard Roisuddin in January were raised at the press conference.

“We have officially informed the BGB about what happened that day and how we handled it,” Agrawal said. “You can get the details from the BGB. I will not repeat it.”

Asked about the situation, Siddiqui said, “There has been an official exchange of letters on the matter. It was not a targeted killing. The incident occurred amid darkness, fog, and confusion. There was a misunderstanding on both sides.”

BSF personnel are also ‘under attack’ at the border, Agrawal said.

“The BGB has faced attacks. Both sides have faced attacks. Sixty BSF personnel have been injured in various incidents.”

“BSF personnel were injured by machetes and sharp weapons by smugglers and criminals. That’s when they opened fire in self-defence. Because of this, the bodies of the dead gave bullet wounds on sensitive areas like their chest, stomach, and head. It proves the BSF fired after they were attacked.”

The existing friendly relations and mutual cooperation between the border security forces of both countries will increase further in the future, a written statement issued at the press conference said.

Both sides agreed to control drug trafficking on the border and increase the number of border huts.