Joynal Abedin Khan :Myanmar’s Border Guard Police (BGP) shot and injured a member of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and picked up another one in the Naf River near Damdamia of Teknaf border in Cox’s Bazar district on Wednesday.The bullet-hit BGB man Sepoy Biplob, 35, has been admitted to Combined Military Hospital in Chittagong in a critical condition, Teknaf 42 BGB Commander Lieutenant Colonel Abu Jar Al-Jahid told The New Nation. On the other hand, the abducted BGB man has been identified as Abdur Razzak, 40, Nayek of the force, the BGB official said.Biplob at first was brought to the Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital around 9:00am. He was later shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Chittagong for better treatment. “He received bullet injuries in the hand. He narrowly escaped death while another bullet crossed very close to him keeping a scratch mark on the head,” emergency wing doctor Noble Barua said.”The incident occurred when a BGB patrol team intercepted a BGP trawler in the Naf River inside Bangladesh naval territory during conducting a search drive on another trawler around 5:30am,” Lieutenant Colonel Al-Jahid said.”Being angered by the move, the BGP men started shooting at the BGB trawler and left the spot promptly, leaving Biplob injured. Another BGB member Razzak has been taken away by the BGP men,” the BGB official said.BGB have instantly sent a letter to the BGP authorities protesting the firing and abduction, he said.BGB Director General Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed said, “The shooting broke out due to a misunderstanding with the BGP when the BGB patrol was searching a trawler following a tip-off regarding Yaba smuggling.”The abducted soldier was said to be all right and the BGB were in contact with the BGP to bring him back, the BGB boss said.State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told the reporters at the secretariat in the afternoon that a ‘misunderstanding’ led to the exchange of fire between border patrols of Bangladesh and Myanmar on the Naf River. “BGP opened fire due to a misunderstanding between the two border patrols on the Naf River,” the minister told the media.”The abducted soldier ‘Razzak’, has been kept at a BGP camp near the Naf River in Myanmar. He will be brought back very soon through a flag meeting between the BGB and BGP,” said Kamal.Replying to a query over what actually happened, he said that the two border forces patrol the river, which is shared by both Bangladesh and Myanmar. ‘The problem arose’ when the BGB trawler got stuck in a fishing net, according to Kamal.Colonel Anisur Rahman, sector commander of Cox’s Bazar BGB said, “The exchange of gunfire took place due to a misunderstanding. A flag meeting is scheduled to be held today where the matter will be settled.”Earlier on May 29, the authority of Bangladesh has imposed red alert at zero point of Bangladesh-Myanmar border after kidnapping of a member of BGB Nayek Mizanur Rahman by BGP on May 27, according to BGB official report.”Bangladesh-Burma border pillar number 50. The authority announced red alert along the two country’s border,” it said.On May 30, members of BGB and BGP exchanged firing for about two hours along Naikhonchhari border in Bandarban district, BGB sources said.
