Why Bangladesh is pushing back at India on spate of border killings
Since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in August, eight people have been killed while allegedly trying to enter India, say human rights groups.
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On the night of September 1, Swarna Das, a 14-year-old student from Bangladesh, was waiting to cross the border and enter Tripura.
She and her 40-year-old mother had paid 5,000 Bangladeshi taka, approximately Rs 3,500, to agents who said they would help them cross over, the teenager’s brother, Pintu Das, told Scroll.
“They wanted to meet our uncle who lives across the border in Tripura’s Dharmanagar town,” said Pintu Das. The family lived in Kalnigarh village in Bangladesh’s Moulvibazar district – 60 km from Tripura.
His mother did not want to cross the border under cover of darkness. “But the agents insisted that they cross the border at night,” he said. “When they approached the barbed wire fence, my mother and sister shouted and asked the people on the other side not to fire. However, the BSF [Border Security Force] personnel may not have understood their language and opened fire.”
A bullet hit Swarna and her body was taken away by the Border Security Force personnel. “My mother was rescued by the agents, but she does not remember how she was saved,” recounted Pintu Das.
Several media reports, quoting unidentified Indian officials, said that the 14-year-old was shot dead by the Border Guard Bangladesh while trying to enter India without documents. However,...
