Tensions ebb at Satkhira border after BSF offer apology

Tension ebbed between BSF and BGB members at Madra border under Satkhira’s Kalaroa Upazila after the Indian border force apologised for intruding into Bangladesh and attacking villagers. A flag meeting was held between Border Guard Bangladesh and Border Security Force at Madra on Friday afternoon. Acting Commander of BGB 38 Battalion Major Nazir Ahmed Bakshi led the Bangladesh team while Indian team was headed by BSF’s 152 Battalion Commandant Rajesh Kumar. At the meeting, the BSF “offered apology to the BGB for the transgression”, BGB sources said. BGB’s Madra Company Commander Subedar Abdur Rab told reporters that several members of BSF’s Hakimpur camp intruded into the Bangladesh part of Sonai River by a speed boat and a wood-made country boat amid heavy rainfall at dawn. Two BSF personnel armed with weapons stepped into Bangladesh territory and chased the villagers ‘without any reason’. The villagers locked into a scuffle with them. A few villagers suffered minor injuries during the skirmish. The BSF personnel left the scene after BGB men intervened. Subedar Rab said one of the BSF personnel left behind his SLR with 20 rounds of bullet. They also left the country boat, he said. As tension ran high at the Madra border after the incident, a flag meeting was held between the tywo border forces at Kalibarhi Primary School of Madra around 3pm where BSF “offered apology to the BGB for the transgression”, he added, according to a news agency.