Indian Border Security Force (BSF) on Wednesday allegedly picked up and then tortured four Bangladeshi fishermen from Rajshahi's Kharchaka area of the Padma River.
The tortured fishermen have been identified as Md Alam, 49, his son Anwar, 23, Sifat, 19, and Sonarul, 28.
Of the four, Anwar is currently undergoing treatment at a local hospital, confirmed Rajshahi BGB 1 Commander Lt Col Ferdous Ziauddin Mahmud.
Ziauddin said: “The four fishermen were picked up from the border area and then tortured. We had called for a flag meeting to discuss the issue with BSF on Thursday noon. But it had to be postponed. BSF later sent us a letter for holding the flag meeting on Friday.”
“However, they [BSF] can't torture people like this. They have kept the two boats belonging to the fishermen as evidence of border crossing,” the BGB official added.
Meanwhile, Anwar, one of the four tortured fishermen, said: “The BSF men came in a speedboat and picked us up while we were fishing at the Padma River near the Gahmabona area on Wednesday afternoon.
“They [BSF] claimed that we had entered their territory and then tortured us. We were beaten with sticks. Then around 9:30pm, on the same day, we were released.”
