04-19-2005, 08:48 PM
From Rediff: India mute on Jeevan Kumar's slaughter
Late in the evening on Saturday, April 16, an assistant commandant and a constable of the Border Security Force, on duty at Lankamura outpost on the India-Bangladesh border a mere 8 km from Tripura's capital, Agartala, were dragged into Bangladeshi territory.
By the time the BSF got them back, Assistant Commandant Jeevan Kumar was dead. He had been shot at point blank range. Injuries on his body indicate he was brutally knifed before being killed. Constable K K Surendran, seriously injured, is battling for his life.
Reports suggest that the two were rushed by a group of Bangladeshis in civilian clothes, dragged across the border and then set upon by Bangladesh Rifles personnel. All the while, the BDR kept firing on the Lankamura outpost. The firing stopped around midnight, followed by a hastily arranged flag meeting during which Kumar's lifeless body and a barely alive Surendran were handed over to the BSF.
The incident revives memories of the slaughter of 16 jawans of the BSF by the BDR on April 18, 2001. On that occasion, Bangladeshi civilians had trapped the BSF jawans into crossing the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya. BDR personnel then killed the jawans in cold blood.
Late in the evening on Saturday, April 16, an assistant commandant and a constable of the Border Security Force, on duty at Lankamura outpost on the India-Bangladesh border a mere 8 km from Tripura's capital, Agartala, were dragged into Bangladeshi territory.
By the time the BSF got them back, Assistant Commandant Jeevan Kumar was dead. He had been shot at point blank range. Injuries on his body indicate he was brutally knifed before being killed. Constable K K Surendran, seriously injured, is battling for his life.
Reports suggest that the two were rushed by a group of Bangladeshis in civilian clothes, dragged across the border and then set upon by Bangladesh Rifles personnel. All the while, the BDR kept firing on the Lankamura outpost. The firing stopped around midnight, followed by a hastily arranged flag meeting during which Kumar's lifeless body and a barely alive Surendran were handed over to the BSF.
The incident revives memories of the slaughter of 16 jawans of the BSF by the BDR on April 18, 2001. On that occasion, Bangladeshi civilians had trapped the BSF jawans into crossing the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya. BDR personnel then killed the jawans in cold blood.