Two Indian nationals were seriously injured after the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) allegedly opened fire on them along the Daikhawa border in Ulipur upazila of Kurigram on Sunday afternoon.
The injured men were identified as Ismail Hossain, 35, and Khaja Abdul Alim, 39, residents of Barobalu village under Sukchar Police Station in Assam’s South Salmara-Mankachar district.
After being shot, they crossed into Bangladesh and were rescued by local residents, who took them to a clinic in Rangpur. Later, the Detective Branch (DB) of Rangpur Metropolitan Police transferred them to Rangpur Medical College Hospital for better treatment.
Rangpur Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner and DB chief Sanatan Chakraborty confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune, saying the two men were arrested in a case filed over illegal entry into Bangladesh.
Doctors found multiple pellet wounds on their bodies, while one of them also sustained a burn-like injury.
The circumstances surrounding their presence in the border area remain unclear. DB officials are investigating the incident, including why the BSF allegedly opened fire on the two Indian nationals.
Local residents suspect the men had crossed into the border area to smuggle cattle and were shot by the BSF after being mistaken for Bangladeshi cattle smugglers.
The injured men, however, claimed they had gone to a char area near the border to graze cattle. They alleged that BSF personnel detained them and tried to push them into Bangladesh.
According to the men, they resisted, leading to a scuffle, after which the BSF allegedly opened fire and left them injured on the Bangladesh side.
Khaja Abdul Alim, one of the injured men, said they were Indian citizens and had gone to the char to graze cattle. He alleged that BSF personnel accused them of being Bangladeshi cattle smugglers and took them to a char area, where an argument broke out before they were shot.
He appealed to the governments of Bangladesh and India to facilitate their return home.
Police and local residents said the BSF personnel fired at Ismail and Khaja from an area near Assam’s Narayanpur land port towards Daikhawar Char in the Brahmaputra River area of Ulipur.
