Sylhet Bureau

 Once again, the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) opened fire targeting coal smugglers at the Sunamganj border of the Sylhet sector under the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Friday morning.

 Residents of the border villages—Charagaon, Lalghat Paschimpara, and Lalghat Cluster Village—confirmed to The Country Today  that the BSF fired shots from across the Meghalaya hills, opposite the Lalghat Paschimpara area controlled by the Charagaon BOP of the 28 Border Guard Battalion, Tahirpur, under the Sylhet sector.

 According to the people of the border villages, as is the case day and night, 40 to 45 Bangladeshi smugglers from Charagaon, Bashtola, Lalghat Paschimpara, and Cluster Village regularly cross the 1196 main pillar of the Bangladesh-India border under the Charagaon BOP of the Sunamganj-28 Border Guard Battalion of the Sylhet sector to illegally infiltrate the dense quarries of Meghalaya, India, to smuggle coal.

 At that time, the patrol team of the Charagaon camp of Shillong BSF 1-Battalion, stationed at the Indian border, intervened. When the coal smugglers became aggressive toward the BSF patrol members, the BSF fired 2 rounds targeting the coal smugglers.

 Some of the smugglers managed to escape back to the Bangladesh side, but several members of the group remained trapped in the hills. Meanwhile, since Friday morning, the coal smugglers who returned have gone into hiding, so it is unknown whether anyone was injured in the shooting.

 On Friday evening, Lieutenant Colonel AKM Zakaria Kadir, commander of the Sunamganj 28 Border Guard Battalion under the Sylhet sector, confirmed the information about the two rounds of firing by the BSF on coal smugglers.

 It should be noted that on May 20, around 150 to 200 Bangladeshi nationals illegally infiltrated the Indian territory in the Charagaon border canal area of 1195/6-S to bring coal in the name of extraction.

 At that time, the patrol team of the Charagaon camp of Shillong BSF 1-Battalion intervened. The coal smugglers hurled abusive language and began pelting stones at the BSF patrol members. At one point, the BSF fired 10 rounds in two phases targeting the coal smugglers.

 Instead of preventing smuggling and smugglers—including coal and drugs—at the border, there are widespread public allegations of complicity, irresponsibility, and lack of visible police action against smugglers by some dishonest police officers.

 Sunamganj Superintendent of Police Tofayel Ahmed was calles  for a statement on the matter. Later, a text message was also sent but he did not reply..