Two shot dead by BSF at border

Two villagers died when BSF jawans opened fire at them late on Tuesday night at the Kaharpara outpost in Murshidabad. According to sources in BSF,the men were identified as Sentu Sheikh and Milton Sheikh. Milton Shiekh was a resident of Budhorpara village of Raninagar police station in Murshidabad and Sentu Sheikh was a resident of Dakshin Machdia in Raninagar.

The BSF has seized eight cows from them. C V Murlidhar,IG,BSF,South Bengal Frontier said: “A 30-strong group was smuggling cattle to Bangladesh. When our jawans asked them to stop,the men,who were armed with sharp weapons,attacked them. There were only four jawans in the patrolling party and they had to open fire. One of the jawans has been admitted to a hospital.”

The villagers,however,claimed that there were only two men who were trying to cross the border with the cattle. The BSF did not ask them to stop and directly opened fire. The jawans belonged to the 52nd battalion of the BSF. According to a BSF officer,this year,around 46 smugglers were shot while trying to cross the border. Eight of them were Bangladeshi nationals.