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BSF-BDR exchange fire |
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The Border Security Force and Bangladesh Rifles exchanged fire early on June 28 over a strip of land under adverse possession of India along the border. Several families living in the vicinity fled their homes in panic.
BSF sources said the encounter, which lasted for four hours from 2.50 am, was triggered when some Bangladeshi farmers, backed by the BDR, entered a deserted area in Harinagar sector in Assam’s Cachar district to cultivate paddy.
The tiny strip of land, measuring 3,000 square feet, is contiguous to Bangladesh and lies across the Surma, a tributary of the Barak. It has become a bone of contention between the two countries.
BSF contingents carry out regular patrolling along this strip of land, the sources added.
As the bullets flew, villagers from both sides of the border were forced to flee to safety.
No one was injured on the Indian side, the sources said. It could not be ascertained if anyone from across the border had suffered any casualty.
A senior BSF official said no exchange of fire was reported after the BDR stopped firing. Tension, however, persists along the border.
The BSF has sent a terse note to the BDR saying that “if further attempt at encounter is resorted to, the Indian border force would be compelled to show a bloody nose to them”.
The BDR has not asked for any flag meeting with the BSF to normalise the situation.
Nonetheless, a BSF official said the border force would attend any such flag meeting if asked, but not give up India’s possession over the land.
There are 12 areas along the Indo-Bangladesh border where 551.8 acres of land of the neighbouring country is under the adverse possession of India.
On the other hand, there are six areas where 226.8 acres of land belonging to India is under the adverse possession of Bangladesh. The dispute over these stretches has been festering for a long time.
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