The Foreign Ministry has summoned Myanmar Ambassador in Dhaka Myo Mint Than to protest a border shooting incident and abduction of a Border Guard Bangladesh soldier by Myanmar’s border force.
Border Guard Bangladesh member Biplob received bullet wounds and BGB Naik Razzaq, along with his sub-machine gun, was abducted by Myanmar’s Border Guard Police in the Naf River near the Jadimura area of Teknaf border in Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday morning.
This is the second such incident to take place since the Myanmar authorities abolished its Nasaka force in July 2013 and deployed the Border Guard Police.
It is also the second time the Myanmar ambassador has been summoned this month. On June 5 he was summoned to hear Bangladesh’s protest against Myanmar for propaganda regarding the Rohingya and Bangladesh.
“We asked that Naik Razzak be released immediately,” said an official of the Foreign Ministry.
The ambassador said Myanmar’s BGP opened fire because they mistook BGB men for robbers, the official said.
“The ambassador called a Myanmar official from the meeting and asked Myanmar authorities to expedite the release of the BGB soldier held captive,” he said.
According to a BGB press release issued in Dhaka on Wednesday, a seven-member BGB team was patrolling the area from the Jadimura canal to the Dumdumia border outpost in two boats.
The BGB team was conducting routine patrols in civil boats, when suddenly, around 5:30am, a BGP boat appeared and opened fire on one of the BGB boats, injuring one Bangladeshi soldier in the arm.
The BGB team then returned fire, according to the release.
“At one stage, the two sides were locked in a scuffle, the release says. At that time, a second boat arrived on the scene. The BGP men then disappeared and took BGB Naik Razzaq and his sub-machine gun along with them.
“The rest of the members of the boat saved themselves by jumping into the river and swimming ashore,” says the release.
A year ago, another BGB soldier was abducted and killed by Myanmar’s border force.
On May 28, 2014, BGB Naik Mizanur Rahman was allegedly abducted and killed by the Myanmar frontier force near the Paanchhari border in Naikkhongchhari, Bandarban district.
Two days later, when Myanmar’s BGP was scheduled to return Mizanur’s body to the BGB, BGP men opened fire on the Bangladeshi soldiers instead of handing over the body.
BGB said Naik Mizanur was patrolling the border to check Rohingya infiltration.
Amid high tension, Myanmar’s BGP returned Naik Mizanur’s body on May 31. At a flag meeting held on June 3, BGB protested the killing and demanded a probe and punishment for the killer.
Myanmar has still not investigated the killing.
The nearly 271km border between Bangladesh and Myanmar is divided into two parts – the 64km zero line boundary on the Naf River and the 208km land boundary.
