Staff Reporter :
Most of the Bangladeshis killed in BSF firing on the Bangladesh-India borders because they were ‘criminals’, smugglers, drug dealers and traffickers.
Director General of India’s Border Security Force (BSF) Pankaj Kumar Singh said so in response to questions from reporters after the BGB-BSF director general (DG) level 52nd Border Conference in Dhaka’s Pilkhana on Thursday.
Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) Director General Major General Sakil Ahmed and BSF Director General Pankaj Kumar Singh presided over the conference.
“There are both good and bad people living on both sides of the border. Only the bad guys, who were involved in various crimes, were killed on the borders. They were smugglers, drug dealers and traffickers,” the BSF DG said.
In response to another question regarding how could he call those killed on the borders criminals before fair judgement and whether shooting above knee level is not a targeted killing, Pankaj Kumar Singh said, “We cannot call anyone a criminal until the judicial system declares it or any crime is committed. We cannot just label people as criminals.”
“However, by talking to the DMP, Kolkata Police and border intelligence agencies, we exchanged information on those killed by BSF firing on the border and identified them as criminals. All crimes on the borders are controlled by the mafias of the two countries”, the BSF chief said.
Pankaj Kumar Singh said that only those involved in trafficking of children and women try to cross the border illegally.
So far, 89 BSF personnel have been seriously injured while preventing border infiltration and smuggling.
“We have started using non-lethal weapons to bring down border killings to zero. Our relationship with BGB is better than ever. We will work together on border security”, he said.
Five people have been killed on the border so far till June this year.
When asked why killings on the borders are not coming down to zero yet, the director general of BSF said that the relationship between India and Bangladesh is very different, different from western countries.
“We are constantly discussing various border issues at the level of officials of different ranks. Both countries have good and bad people. Only the bad guys were killed on the borders”, he added.
He, however, said both BGB and BSF are jointly working to control border crimes and bring border killings to zero.
“BSF as well as BGB are absolutely professional border guarding forces. We uphold the best of traditions of human rights whenever we are guarding the border,” he added.
Director General of BGB Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed said at least 212 Myanmar nationals from 51 families illegally entered Bangladesh from India recently.
Besides, some others may have also entered through remote border areas, he said while replying to a query at the press conference.
According to the rights body, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), five people were shot dead on the border by BSF till June this year. Besides, four people were wounded while six were abducted during this period.
Last year, 18 people were shot dead, one was tortured to death, and another died after being chased by BSF, ASK statistics shows.
