Dhaka denies Indian accusation of cross-border raid
Bangladeshi border troops staged a cross-border raid on an Indian village, assaulting residents and stealing, a senior Indian border official charged on Saturday, but Dhaka denied the claim.
A small group of Bangladeshis in uniform entered Bhimpur village on Friday on the heels of two colleagues who had been caught trying to break into a house, Indian Border Security Force official A K Agarwal said.
The village, located 400 kilometres north of Kolkata, is just 300 metres from the border, which is patrolled by the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR).
"India will take up the issue with Bangladesh," Agarwal said.
Agarwal said half a dozen Bangladeshi border guards attacked villagers, ransacked a home, and stole a motorcycle, a cell phone and Rs 86,000 at gunpoint after villagers overpowered their two colleagues.
"The villagers said a Bangladeshi trooper fired two rounds from his service revolver. We seized a live rifle cartridge, a broken butt of a rifle and a badge from a Bangladeshi uniform,? Agarwal said.
But a BDR spokesman in Dhaka gave a different version of events.
"No BDR troops entered [the] Indian village," he said. "A group of Indian smugglers crossed into Bangladeshi territory on Friday afternoon.
"When our soldiers challenged them, they scuffled with our men. As we fired three rounds of blank shots to scare them away, they fled our territory leaving behind a motorcycle and a mobile phone."
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