Bangladesh rifles and and Indian Border Security Forces took gunfights
By T Siamchinthang
Bangladesh Rifles and Indian Border Security Force troops traded gunshots across Icchamoti river on Padma Shakhra frontier here Monday night, leaving three people dead, including a BSF man.
Witnesses and official sources said the exchange of fire ensued when BSF patrols from Chholadana camp intruded into Bangladesh territory crossing the maritime boundary in the Icchamoti river for kidnapping some Bangladeshi fishermen on Monday night.
"As BDR went to rescue the fishermen, BSF members fired several shots. At the time, BDR also fired 19 rounds of blank shots, and the BSF personnel left the place," he said Major Humayun Kabir, deputy commander of 41 Rifles Battalion.
The company commander of the BSF camp informed BDR that their Force member Rajesh Sharma was killed during the gunfight between the border-security guards of the two countries. A BDR source also confirmed the death of the BSF member. Another source said Shariful Mollah, 34, a source of BSF, hailed from Panio village under Bashirhat thana of Uttar Chhabish Parghana in India, and Rafiqul Ala, 35, of the same
area also got caught in the crossfire and died.
"The bodies were found lying near the other bank of the Icchamoti till Tuesday noon," one of the witnesses said. A clerk of Chholadana BSF camp, Babu Sharma, injured during the skirmish, was admitted to Bashirhat Hospital.
Locals said 'red alert' was declared on the Indian side and the BSF massed heavy arms and made bunkers along the border, creating panic among the local people. A tense situation was prevailing in the area following the incident at about 8pm on Monday. People in the frontier area were told by the authorities to remain alert.
Meanwhile, the Youngone garment units in the Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ) was also declared closed Tuesday for an indefinite period due to the current volatile situation in the DEPZ, said an official.
However, situation in other production units of the DEPZ was peaceful on the day.
The members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested nine alleged outsiders from the DEPZ area with some firearms this (Tuesday) morning.
Later, the arrested persons were handed over to the nearby police station for taking legal action against them, sources said adding they were instigating the
workers inside the DEPZ.
General manager of the DEPZ AZM Azizur Rahman said the officials of the three
factories might reopen their factories soon, as they did not close down their factories for indefinite period like Youngone.
"The workers in the three closed factories did not ransack any machinery or assault any officials of the factories during the incident," he said.
After a lull for a few days, violence flared up again in the DPEZ when the workers of the Youngone Group went on a rampage in their factory premises on Monday.
Immediately after the trouble, the management of Youngone, the largest investor in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) of Bangladesh, suspended its DEPZ operation.
Earlier, the members of the Bangladesh EPZ Investors' Association (BEPZIA) kept the operation of the factories suspended due to serious labour unrest in the DEPZ between June 3 and June 7.
There are 83 industrial units in the DEPZ where more than 63,000 workers are employed.
By T Siamchinthang
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