2 BSF jawans attacked, weapons snatched at India-Bangladesh border

Kolkata, Feb 26 (PTI) Two BSF jawans were attacked and their weapons snatched allegedly by Bangladeshi farmers who sneaked into India to graze their cattle in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district on Sunday, a statement said.

The incident happened near the Nirmalchar border outpost in Ranitala police station area when two jawans of the 35th battalion were patrolling, it said.

On noticing that a group of Bangladeshi farmers was crossing the border to graze their cattle on fields of Indian farmers, the jawans intercepted them.

Soon, hundreds of people from Bangladesh crossed over to India, and attacked the jawans with sticks and ‘dah’ — a sharp-edged tool mainly used in farming, the BSF said in the statement.

As the two jawans were seriously injured, the Bangladeshis fled back snatching their firearms. Getting to know about the incident, security personnel reached the spot and rushed the two jawans to the nearest hospital, it said.

BSF said the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) was informed about the incident, and a flag meeting has been sought so that the weapons of the jawans could be recovered, besides preventing such incidents in the future.

The BSF has lodged a complaint at the Ranitala police station.

Indian farmers have been complaining about the theft and damage of their crops by Bangladeshis, the statement said.