Bangladesh has lodged its protest over a picture of handcuffed BGB Naik Abdur Razzak put up on the BGP Facebook page.
“Bangladesh Ambassador in Myanmar Mohammad Sufiur Rahman met newly appointed Myanmar foreign ministry permanent secretary yesterday and expressed Bangladesh’s extreme displeasure about the photograph,” said an official of the foreign ministry.
The BGB Naik along with his SMG was abducted by Myanmar’s Border Guard Police in the Naf River near Jadimura area of Teknaf border in Cox’s Bazar Wednesday morning. In the incident another Border Guard Bangladesh member Biplob was shot.
In the meeting with Bangladesh Ambassador, the Myanmar side claimed that Razzak was detained on Myanmar water and considered it as an illegal entry to Myanmar and there were some formalities before releasing him, the official said.
“Our ambassador told them it was their version and Bangladesh has also its own version,” the MOFA official said.
The Myanmar side did not give any specific date when Razzak would be released but hinted that it would be early next week, he added.
The BGB protesting Razzak’s captivity on Friday sent an e-mail and fax messages to Myanmar.
The BGB protest said no international law allowed detaining and torturing a neighbouring country’s border force member and this is an insult not only for the BGB but for the 16 million people of Bangladesh.
The Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh also summoned Myanmar Ambassador to Dhaka Myo Mint Than on Thursday to protest shooting on the border and abduction of Razzak.
This was the second time the ambassador was summoned this month. Earlier, on June 5 he was summoned to protest against Myanmar propaganda about Rohingya and Bangladesh.
The Foreign Ministry asked him to release Naik Razzak immediately.
According to a BGB press release issued in Dhaka Wednesday, a seven-member team of the BGB on two boats was patrolling the area from the Jadimura canal to the Dumdumia border outpost.
“They were conducting routine patrol on civil boats. Suddenly, around 5:30am, soldiers of the Myanmar BGP appeared with a boat, opened fire on one of the BGB boats, injuring the one soldier. The BGB team also retaliated with gunshots,” the release reads.
At one stage, the two sides locked into a scuffle, the release says. However, at that time, the second boat arrived at the scene. The BGP men then disappeared and took BGB Naik Razzaq and his SMG along with them.
The rest of the members of that boat saved themselves by jumping into the river and swam ashore, says the release.
This is the second such incident since the Myanmar authorities abolished its Nasaka force in July 2013 and deployed the Border Guard Police.
One year ago, on May 28, 2014, another BGB naik named Mizanur Rahman was allegedly abducted and killed by the Myanmar frontier force near the Paanchhari border in Naikkhongchhari of Bandarban district.
Two days later, the BGP was supposed to return Mizanur’s body to the BGB. But, when the Bangladeshi border guards went to receive the body, the BGP men opened fire on them instead of handing over the body.
BGB said Naik Mizanur was patrolling the border to check Rohingya infiltration.
The nearly 271-km border between Bangladesh and Myanmar is divided into two parts – 64-km zero line boundary on the Naf River and a 208-km land boundary.