Nazrul Islam (40), a day labourer from Baribaka village in Meherpur district was shot dead by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) on 22 January 2010 at 4.30 am in Nabin Nagar, Khalpar border near the no. 116 pillar, as he tried to cross the border fence between India and Bangladesh. He was a poor peasant who worked in other people’s fields and also
worked for the cattle traders. He had two daughters, a wife and an old mother to take care of. His son Tutul lives with his own family in another house.
On the day of the incident at 7.00 a.m. some Indians who were working at the no man’s land area, informed a relative of the victim that Nazrul had been gunned down by the BSF and his body was hanged on the fence. Ershad and Tutul, relatives of the victim and more then 30 villagers went near the border and from the bank of a pond, they saw the body of Nazrul stuck in the barbed wire fence. The BDR told Odhikar, quoting from BSF, that Nazrul was a cattle trader, who was returning from India with a cow when they shot him. They concurred that no one was allowed to cross the border from 6.00 pm to 6.00 am and the BSF have the order to shoot any one who crosses during that period. The villagers and family members of Nazrul Islam saw that BSF members of the 92 Battalion came with a car and took the body away at 7.00 am.
After receiving the news of the killing, the BDR asked the BSF to hold a flag meeting, which took place after two letters were sent to BSF. The BSF stated that they had recovered a cow and a bamboo ladder as proof of the victim being a cattle trader. On 23 January, BSF conducted a post mortem and returned the body to the BDR of Buripota camp, after a flag
meeting. However, the post mortem report was not sent to the BDR, even after repeated letters.
After receiving the body, BDR handed it over to the police who then delivered it to Meherpur General Hospital for further post mortem. The post mortem report concluded that a gunshot had killed Nazrul Islam. The police also conducted an investigation in the matter but found nothing to support the BSF conjecture that Nazrul Islam was a cattle trader. The body was returned to Nazrul Islam’s family on 25 January 2010.
fact-finding-border violence-Nazrul Islam-2010 (full text in English, PDF)
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