Trooper Razzak’s release by Myanmar is unconditional, says Border Guard Bangladesh chief

Abdur Razzak has been brought back without meeting any conditions of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police (BGP), says Border Guard Bangladesh Director General Aziz Ahmed.

BGP handed over Nayek Razzak to BGB officials on Thursday afternoon after a flag meeting between the two forces in Myanmar’s Maungdaw.
 
He was abducted by BGP following a shootout on the Naf River in Cox’s Bazar’s Teknaf on June 17 between the border patrols of the two countries.
 
A little after he was released, Ahmed held a press briefing at the BGB headquarters in Dhaka’s Peelkhana.
 
He said, “BGP at the flag meeting claimed he (Razzak) was not wearing his BGB uniform when they arrested him for crossing over to Myanmar’s waters that day.”
 
“We strongly protested their claims and told them that no BGB member goes on duty without being in uniform. And Razzak did not cross the border that day.”
 
“The BGP members attacked our people and whisked away Razzak,” Ahmed said.
 
The BGB has also sought an explanation from the BGP about releasing a photo of Razzak in handcuff on their Facebook page, he said.
 
“They said they will look into that issue.”
 
He added they also demanded that BGP notify the BGB about their actions against those responsible after investigations.
 
Maj Gen Ahmed said they urged Myanmar’s border guards to honour the agreement signed between the neighbouring countries in 1980 to prevent such incident from happening again.
 
“From now on, BGB and BGP will share information and notify each other beforehand if the border needs to be crossed.”
 
The BGP handed over Razzak around 4:15pm Thursday after the five-hour-long flag meeting. They also handed over his personal weapon, 22 bullets and other equipment around 5:30pm.
 
The BGB team that went to negotiate his release started for Bangladesh from Maungdaw around 5:45pm after the formalities were over.
 
BGB’s Teknaf Battalion Commander Lt Col Abu Jar Al Jahid had led the seven-strong team to the meeting which was attended by a 10-strong BGP team.
 
The June 17 shootout, which authorities said was caused by a ‘misunderstanding’, had left another BGB soldier with bullet injuries.
 
On Jun 23, the BGP demanded that Bangladesh will have to take in 555 victims of human trafficking, who the country claim were Bangladeshis, without checking their nationality if it wanted Razzak back.
 
Bangladesh government had said that Myanmar was ‘going too far’ by attaching a condition for the BGB soldier’s release.