Staff Reporter :
Dhaka has registered strong protest to Myanmar against the Monday’s brutal killing of a Bangladeshi national by the Myanmar’s Border Guard Police.
According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MoFA], a ‘strongly worded protest letter’ was sent to Myanmar Embassy on Wednesday also condemning the killing and urging to take immediate step to check such type of incident in the future.
After the incident, Myanmar state media said that BGP shot and killed a Bangladeshi national because it feared BGP members were under attack. So they opened fire for self-defense.
A senior official of MoFA, however, termed the killing by BGP as ‘provoking’.
On Monday, BGP members allegedly opened fire and killed a Bangladeshi fisherman near the border region in Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar. The victim was identified as Nurul Amin, 26, son of Kabir Ahmed of Chowdhury Para under Teknaf pourashava.
Another one Md Mustafa, 24, son of Sona Mia, hailed from same area, received serious bullet wound during the shooting.
As per statement given by the unhurt fisherman Md Hashim, they [three fishermen] were fishing at Moulvipara point of the Naf river near no-2 sluice gate at Nazir Para under Teknaf Sadar Union.
Officials said they were inside the Bangladesh territory. Suddenly, a group of BGP came in on a speedboat and opened fire. After indiscriminate firing, the speedboat left the spot.
In an instant reaction, the Border Guard Bangladesh [BGB] protested the killing through contacting the BGP officials soon after the incident, Teknaf Border Guard Battalion-2 Captain Abuzar Al Jahid said.
The BGB official said: “Firing like this is against the boundary law. They could take legal actions for illegal trespassing,” he said.
In another incident, the Myanmar Navy opened fire on six Bangladeshi fishermen near the St Martin’s Island in December last year. Against this backdrop, Dhaka had summoned Myanmar envoy and handed him a note of protest at that time.
