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Thursday, February 9, 2012

Killing at border unacceptable: BGB chief

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Chief Maj Gen Anwar Hossain said on Thursday that killing at the border under any circumstances is not acceptable.

“Killing in no way is acceptable,” he told UNB over telephone responding to Indian BSF Chief UK Bansal’s remark that the firing at the border won’t stop as they need to prevent the offenders.

Gen Anwar said: “We condemn killing wherever it takes place including at the border.”

He added: “Our standpoint is very clear: We don’t shoot. We don’t shoot at Indian trespassers; we arrest them and try under the laws of our land. We strictly follow the International Human Rights convention.”

The BGB director general said if any Bangladesh national illegally crosses the international boundary, he may be arrested and tried under the law of that country.

Replying to a question, he said the BGB remains alert all the time. “We are constantly advising the frontier people not to cross the border illegally.”

Asked about the coordinated border management with Indian BSF, he said it has already started and so far 900 joint patrols have been carried out, improving the situation along the common border.

Gen Anwar said the incident of killing at the border is on the decline, mentioning that in the past two months two people were killed at the border.

“We’ve very cordial relations with our counterparts. If any incident happens, we hold flag meeting or local commander level meeting to resolve the problem instantly,” he said.