A soldier of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in Cox’s Bazar was injured by shots fired by Myanmar’s Border Guard Police (BGP), while another soldier was abducted, officials of the force confirmed.
Published : 17 Jun 2015, 01:10 PM
The exchange of fire between the two countries’ border patrols occurred on the Naf River in Teknaf Upazila.
The wounded BGB soldier ‘Bilpob’, 21, was taken to the Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, but was later shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Chittagong.
The abducted soldier, identified as Nayek ‘Razzak’, has been kept at a BGP camp near the Naf River in Myanmar.
The exchange of fire had been caused by a ‘misunderstanding’, according to the BGB.
“The shooting broke out due to a misunderstanding with the BGP when the BGB patrol was searching a trawler following a tip-off regarding Yaba smuggling,” the force’s Chittagong South-East Region Director Lt Col Ekram told bdnews24.com.
The abducted soldier was said to be all right and the BGB were in contact with the BGP to bring him back, added the BGB official.
Teknaf BGB 42 Battalion chief Lt Col Abu Zar Al Zahid said the shootout took place around 4am on Wednesday at the river’s Jamudira Point while BGB personnel were patrolling on a trawler.
The BGB patrol stopped a fishing trawler and conducted a search on the suspicion it was smuggling Yaba.
“A Myanmar border guard patrol of on the river fired at the BGB, leading to an exchange of shots between them. The unwanted shooting broke out as the Myanmar border forces mistook them to be human-traffickers or smugglers,” Lt Col Zahid told bdnews24.com.
Biplob was shot in the firing, while Razzak was nabbed by the BGP personnel.
Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital’s emergency wing doctor Noble Barua said that Biplob had been brought to the hospital around 9am on Wednesday.
“He has been shot in the hand and another bullet grazed past his head,” he said.