BSF, Bangla troops exchange heavy fire

Border Security Force and Bangladesh Rifles on Wednesday exchanged heavy fire in Cachar on the Indo-Bangladesh border.

BSF Commandant Biplob Sengupta said there were no reports of causality on the Indian side.

He said the troops of BDR started unprovoked firing targeting Harinagar and Kinnokhal posts of the BSF in Cachar at around 2.50 am on Wednesday and the BSF retaliated.

The firing between the two sides continued till 7 am in the morning. Both the sides used heavy machine guns and other sophisticated weapons.

Sengupta said Bangladeshi villagers were trying to grab 200 acres of Indian land near Surma river.

On June 23, the BSF troops noticed that Bangla villagers were busy cultivating paddy in Indian land and chased them.

Sengupta said since then the BDR had been concentrating its troops in the area and accordingly the BSF also became prepared for any eventuality. However, both the sides later stopped firing.

The BSF commandant said Bangladeshis had been cultivating Indian land for quite a long time.

Although, Surma river divides the 32-km long international border in this part of the country, more than 200 acres of Indian land falls on the other side of the river.

The Indian villagers were not allowed to cultivate the land by the Bangladeshi counterparts, Sengupta added.

The BSF has thwarted the Bangladeshi design this time, Sengupta said adding, although the firing has stopped, situation is still tense in the bordering areas, about 45 km from Cachar.

The BSF has cautioned people not to move along the bank of Surma river and adjoining ar