Five killed as BGB, villagers ‘clash’ in Khagrachhari

Five people, including a member of the Border Guard Bangladesh, have been shot dead in “clashes between the BGB personnel and villagers” in Khagrachhari, the police say.

The incident took place around 12pm on Tuesday at Gazinagar in Matiranga Upazila, said Matiranga Police Station OC Shamsuddin Bhuiyan.

The dead are BGB’s Sepoy Md Shaon, 40, villager Musa Mia, 60, Musa’s sons Ahammad Ali, 25, and Ali Akbar, 27, and Akbar’s father-in-law Mofiz Mia, 50.

All but Mofiz died on the spot, according to the police. Mofiz died when on way to the Chattogram Medical College Hospital. Another villager, Md Hanif, 28, was admitted to the hospital with bullet wounds. 

The police initially confirmed that Shaon and Ahammad died on the spot. The villagers said the bodies of Musa and Akbar had been lying at the scene. The law enforcers confirmed the death toll of five later.

A group of villagers clashed with the BGB at the Gazinagar checkpoint leaving Ahammad and Shaon dead on the scene, said OC Shamsuddin. Ahammad was shot but police could not figure out how Shaon died.

Musa was carrying logs in a trolley along with his two sons when the BGB members stopped them at the checkpoint, said Musa’s younger brother Md Ibrahim. The two groups had an altercation, he said.

“At one point, the BGB members opened fire and killed my brother Musa and both nephews,” he said.

He also claimed Musa’s wife Ronsu Begum, 50, died suddenly on hearing the news of deaths of her husband and two sons.

The police could not confirm the news of Ronsu’s death.

Another villager, Abdur Rahim, alleged the BGB personnel fired at one stage of the altercation that started after the border guards tried to “confiscate” the logs Musa and his sons had cut from their garden.

Farmer Md Faruk, who claimed to be a witness, said the border guards tried to stop one of their colleagues when the BGB man fired his weapon.

“That BGB man then started shooting at the other border guards,” he said.

Shaon died after being hit by a bullet at the time, the villagers claimed.

Asked about the claim that Shaon was shot dead by his colleagues, Saifullah Mohammad Miraz, the commander of 40 BGB Battalion, said they would speak about the incident later.

“We’re trying to contact them and will share the information later,” Shariful Islam, a BGB spokesman at its headquarters, told bdnews24.com.

The BGB in a statement later said the “untoward incident” occurred when the members of the force “took measures to stop smuggling of illegal logs”.

Civilians surrounded the BGB personnel creating tension and at one stage the BGB fired once into the air, the statement said.

The civilians snatched away the border guards’ firearms and fired them haphazardly, it said.

Shaon and five civilians were shot at the time, the BGB said.

The BGB man and four of the injured civilians have died, according to the statement. 

Necessary steps will be taken after an investigation into the incident, it added.

Tension mounted in Gazinagar following the incident. The army’s Guimara region commander Brig Gen Mohammad Shahriar Zaman, Khagrachhari Deputy Commissioner Protap Chandra Biswas, Superintendent of Police Abdul Aziz and other top officials visited the site.

Brig Gen Zaman said those responsible for the incident will face action. He did not say who were involved in the incident and how.

Deputy Commissioner Protap said the authorities formed a three-member committee headed by Additional District Magistrate Rezaul Karim to investigate the incident. The other members are Additional SP MM Salauddin and the divisional forest officer.

Brig Gen Zaman said those responsible for the incident will face action. He did not say who were involved in the incident.

Deputy Commissioner Protap said the authorities formed a three-member committee headed by Additional District Magistrate Rezaul Karim to investigate the incident. The other members are Additional SP MM Salauddin and the divisional forest officer.