Please - Odhikar

Bangladesh. This is not humanly possible, since to enter Lankamura, one has to cross two large
hills and cut his way through a strong barbed wire fence. At the meeting, the BDR expressed
their condolences over the death of Jibon Kumar and also stated that the death of an innocent
child was also a great tragedy.
The body of Jibon Kumar and injured K.K. Surender were handed over to the BSF at the flag
meeting. At the request of the BSF, no post mortem was done by the BDR, who had retrieved
the body from the village at around one in the morning of 17 April. The BSF also requested the
BDR to recover and hand over the 5.56mm rifle, 3 magazines and the wireless set belonging to
K.K. Surender. At the flag meeting, the BSF accused the BDR of arresting the smuggler Pal
from the Indian border. In retaliation, the BDR stated that the BSF had arrested Bangladeshi
nationals Kamal Mia (32) on 13 April and Jitu Mia (16) on 16 April, 2005.
Lt. Col. Kamruzzaman told Odhikar that the arrogant and intimidating attitude of members of
the BSF was very common. He also said that the BSF was now erecting a barbed wire fence 150
yards into the legally stipulated 'no mans land' of Bangladesh-India border, violating
international law. Apparently they had been warned not to do so, but to no avail. There had even
been some skirmishes between the BSF and the BDR over this fence, the most recent one being
on 16 February 2005. The BSF has already completed erecting 44.66 kilometers of this 73kilometre
fence, with authorisation from the Indian Government and senior BSF officers.
According to Col. Jahangir Alam, commander of the Commilla sector BDR, the relationship
between the BSF and BDR is cordial at the officer-level. Both Bangladeshi and Indian nationals
cross the border, and smuggling is common. If a petty offender is apprehended he is usually
handed over at a flag meeting. He admitted that the incident that took place on 16 April was
very serious and that the BSF wanted to forcefully take back Ramdhon Pal. At the flag meeting
that was held after the incident, Col. Jahangir Alam stated that even though the Indian side
(BSF) admitted to the recovery of K.K. Surender from 250 yards inside the Bangladeshi
territory, they accused the BDR of arresting Ramdhon Pal from within the Indian territory, and
wrote a statement to that effect, stating that Ramdhon Pal was grazing cattle and goats when the
BDR arrested him. According to the BDR, Ramdhon Pal was arrested inside Bangladesh
territory on 16 April, at around 3:30 in the afternoon with Phensydil and Indian currency in his
possession. On the morning of the same day, another Indian national, Anil Kumar was arrested
for smuggling as well. However, the BSF made no statement regarding Anil Kumar. Their sole
focus was on Ramdhon Pal. According to Col. Jahangir Alam, this is proof that the invasion of
the village was pre-planned.
At the flag meeting, the BSF were asked why they had illegally entered Bangladesh territory
with weapons. In reply, the BSF allegedly stated that they did not know that the BDR would fire
at them as soon as they entered Bangladeshi territory and that they had entered to negotiate the
release of Ramdhon Pal. However, there is a standard procedure for requesting such releases,
that both sides are aware of. This sort of entry does not at all fall into the category of standard
procedure.
After the incident, both India and Bangladesh have strengthened their border security. The
Indian side has deployed a lot of heavy artillery and weapons as well as additional forces. The
border areas were in a state of high alert during filing of this report.
Report 2005
107