Bangladeshi criminals attack border outpost; one BSF jawan hurt

A group of over 15 Bangladeshi nationals allegedly gheraoed two Border Security Force personnel on Wednesday near the Rongtila Border Outpost in Shillong, assaulted them and snatched their weapons, resulting in injuring one of them.

Shillong: A group of criminals, allegedly from Bangladesh, attacked a BSF border outpost on Wednesday and snatched the weapons of two armed guards, while another group robbed a family of money and a gun, besides assaulting the head of the family, police said.

The incidents took place at around midnight at Amdoh and Rongtila, which are about five km from the Indo-Bangladesh border, they said.

A group of 10-15 Bangladeshi nationals allegedly gheraoed two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel near the Rongtila Border Outpost (BOP), assaulted them and snatched their weapons, resulting in injuries to one of them, West Jaintia Hills Superintendent of Police (SP) Lakador Syiem said.

The weapons snatched from the BSF personnel were recovered from a nearby jungle, he added.

The incident took place at around 12:30 am and prior to it, at around midnight, another group of Bangladeshi nationals forcibly entered the house of Pratap Bareh at Amdoh village, near the Rongtila BOP, looted cash, mobile phones and an SBBL gun, the SP said.

Bareh fired a round at the intruders in self-defence, before the gun was snatched from him and he was assaulted, Syiem said, adding that both Bareh and the injured BSF personnel were taken to the Dawki Primary Health Centre (PHC) for treatment.

The Deputy Inspector General of Police (Eastern Range) visited the affected persons and the places of occurrence to take stock of the situation, along with the district deputy commissioner and all senior officials of the police and the BSF.

Earlier in the day, the BSF lodged a protest against the intrusion of cross border criminals from Bangladesh during a flag meeting with its counterpart, Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB).

The BGB promised to intensify patrolling to ensure that no Bangladeshi criminal crossed over the international pillars and created a law-and-order situation at the border, a senior BSF official said.

Last week, a group of criminals, also suspected to be from Bangladesh, attacked a car at a spot located about 10 km inside India, injuring the occupants, and fled with their money and mobile phones.

Meghalaya Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui, who is also the local MLA, condemned the incidents.

"I condemn the dastardly and daring attacks on the BSF and villagers living close to the Indo-Bangladesh border and urge the authorities concerned to step up vigil and thwart attempts to create fear among the border residents," he said.