Cattle trader dies in Indian hospital after BSF ‘tortured’ him

A Bangladesh national has died in an Indian hospital after Border Security Force (BSF) tortured him for intruding in the country through Lalmonirhat’s Durgapur frontier on January 20, the deceased’s family said today.  

Cattle trader Delwar Hossain, 30, of Durgapur village in Aditmari upazila, died while undergoing treatment at Coochbehar district hospital in West Bengal on February 4, our local correspondent reported, quoting his family.

However, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) battalion-15 Commanding Officer Lt Colonel SM Tauhidul Alam could not confirm the actual cause of Delwar’s death.

BGB battalion-15 CO Tauhidul said that BSF confirmed Delwar’s death over telephone but did not confirm the reason.

A letter was sent to BSF seeking the return of the body, he said, adding that the paramilitary force would protest the incident if any injury marks are found on the body.

Khoybor Ali, father of Delwar, filed a general diary (GD) after his son was missing since January 20, said Saiful Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Aditmari Police Station.

Delwar entered India through pillar no. 924 on Durgapur border on January 20, said Durgapur Union Parishad (UP) Chairman Salequzzaman Pramanik.

When he crossed the border, a BSF patrol team detained him, tortured and handed over to the police, he told our Lalmonirhat correspondent.

Indian police sent him to the Coochbehar district hospital in West Bengal for his treatment and later he succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday (February 4).

His father, Khoybor, said, “I came to know about my son’s treatment and death through my relatives living in India. It’s true that he was a cattle trader and often brought cattle from India. But on January 20 he didn’t go there for that purpose. He went to visit his maternal grandfather there. But on his way he was caught by BSF.”

He alleged that BSF troops tortured and injured him seriously after confining him at their camp. 

BSF troops are yet to hand over Delwar’s body, he informed. “I informed BGB and they were trying to bring the body back,” he said.