Exchange of fire due to misunderstanding, says state minister
Myanmar border police, BGB men trade fire
1 Bangladesh border guard hurt, another abducted
The Myanmar Border Guard Police (BGP) shot at and injured a member of the Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) and picked up another from the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Teknaf yesterday (Wednesday).
The injured BGB man is Sepoy Biplob Kumar, 21, now undergoing treatment at the Chittagong Combined Military Hospital.
Abducted BGB Nayek Abdur Razzaq, 40, is at a camp of the Myanmar border police, said the Sector Commander of the BGB, Coxs Bazar, Col Anisur Rahman.
Talking to reporters at his secretariat office yesterday, state minister for home affairs Asaduzzman Khan Kamal said the two border forces exchanged fire at Teknaf due to a misunderstanding.
The BGB has asked the BGP to hold a flag meeting to discuss why they (BGP) fired and injured the BGB man and kidnapped another, he said. Narrating the incident, he said: When a patrol boat of the BGB got trapped in a fishing net in the Naf river on Wednesday morning, BGP personnel mistakenly assumed that the BGB men had crossed the border and opened fire. The kidnapped BGB man will be brought back after the flag meeting.
Col Rahman told this correspondent that they failed to hold a flag meeting as the BGP did not get clearance from the authorities concerned. We (BGB and BGP) will hold a meeting on Thursday morning and bring back Razzak, he said.
The Sector Commander said members of both the BGB and BGP were injured in the exchange of fire around 5:30am. But he did not mention how many were injured.
Biplob sustained bullet injuries in the head and hand, said CMH sources.
Biplob is now out of danger. However, he is under observation at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital, said Col Rahman. State minister for home Asaduzzman Khan said: The BGB will be alert in future to avoid recurrence of such incidents.
