At least 17 policemen have been injured in a conflict with suspected cow smugglers on the Indo-Bangladesh border in Mekhaliganj space of Cooch Behar district on Sunday. Two males and 4 girls have been arrested and 34 cows have been rescued.
In the same incident, a Bangladeshi nationwide was killed in a conflict between Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and 30-40 suspected cow smugglers in Malda district on Saturday.
Sharing the sequence of occasions in Cooch Behar, an official mentioned {that a} police crew reached Uchalpukuri village after receiving details about smuggling of cows throughout the border. The police officer mentioned that the crew was attacked by a bunch of individuals. Of the 17 injured policemen, eight have been admitted to the close by Mekhaliganj sub-divisional hospital. Six individuals have been arrested for attacking policemen. Despite the assault, the police have been capable of rescue 34 cows from a shed.
Heavy police power has been deployed within the space to cut back the strain.
Reacting to the incident, BJP chief Dilip Ghosh hit out on the state authorities for objecting to the extension of the BSF’s jurisdiction to 50 kms throughout the worldwide border areas.
“Incidents like these prove how unsafe our border areas are. I want to know what is the stand of these people, who have repeatedly opposed the Centre’s decision to increase the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) from 15 to 50 km in the international border. Our borders are insecure…” Ghosh mentioned.
TMC MLA from Cooch Behar Udayan Guha attacked BSF for not being lively. “If the BSF had done its job well, such smugglers would not have entered the villages,” Guha mentioned.
In the second incident in Malda, suspected cow smugglers attacked a BSF crew on the Pannapur border put up within the early hours of Saturday. Maqbool Hussain (25), a resident of Nagaon, Bangladesh, was killed on this battle. Two cattle have been rescued.
“Around 6 o’clock, the jawans posted at the outpost witnessed the movement of 15-20 suspected smugglers with animals near a fence in Indian territory on the International Border. Smugglers were trying to smuggle them across the international border. At the same time, around (another) 15-20 smugglers from Bangladesh side came 200 meters inside Indian territory with arms and batons (sticks),” the BSF mentioned.
According to the BSF, when the group requested to cease, the troopers have been attacked with stones and daggers. “The jawan tried to cease them by first firing non-lethal weapons in self-defense. But the smugglers continued to assault. To defend life and property, a BSF jawan was pressured to open hearth… a Bangladeshi smuggler was injured close to the fence. At the identical time, listening to the sound of fireside, the remainder of the smugglers fled profiting from the darkness.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
