Attacks on BSF personnel by criminals may be raised during Bangladesh talks
India is expected to raise the issue of violent attacks against Border Security Force (BSF) personnel perpetrated by criminals along the eastern border in a meeting with Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) scheduled in Dhaka next week.
At the next round of biannual DirectorGeneral (DG) talks between the BSF and BGB, the Indian delegation is also likely to raise the incidents of “breach of fence” and entry of Bangladesh nationals through illegal means. Smuggling of arms, narcotics and gold is likely to be on the agenda. The Indian delegation will be led by BSF DG Nitin Agarwal.
According to data available with The Hindu, since 2018, as many as 204 BSF personnel deployed along the Bangladesh border have been injured by miscreants.
“The criminals, who also include their Indian accomplices, use firearms, countrymade bombs, sharpedged weapons and also use stones and bamboo logs to attack the personnel. In 2023 alone, 40 BSF personnel were injured. Since the last round of talks with BGB officials in May 2023, 60 such cases of attacks against BSF and civilians have been reported,” a senior government official said.
India adopted a nonlethal weapon policy in 2011 after Felani Khatun, a 15yearold girl from Bangladesh, was shot dead by the BSF while she was entering India along the Cooch Behar border in West Bengal. Photographs of the teenager’s body that remained hanging on the barbed wire fence for several hours before being brought down created a huge public outcry in Bangladesh.
BSF officials say that they often came under violent attack by cattle smugglers active along the border and the nonlethal weapon policy was an impediment to their operational capabilities.
The BSF personnel use regular weapons as and when the situation demands but the proportion of nonlethal weapons is much higher among total firing incidents along the border.
Data suggest that 2023 saw the least number of firing instances by BSF compared to the last six years.
In 2023, while 287 rounds of ammunition were fired from regular weapons, those by nonlethal weapons which include stun grenades, chili grenade, pump action guns and blank fires stood at 2,924 rounds.
According to the Joint IndoBangladesh Guidelines for Border Authorities, 1975, it is the duty of the border guarding forces on both sides to prevent the entry of armed civilians up to 150 yards on either side.
The BGB delegation will be apprised that since the last round of talks with BGB officials in May 2023, as many as 262 incidents of breach of fence have been reported. Since 2017, a total of 3,090 such incidents have been reported.
Since 2018, as many as 17,637 Bangladeshi nationals were intercepted by the BSF along the eastern border while 3,342 individuals were caught in 2023.