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BSF Kills Man In Bengal's Cooch Behar While Allegedly Searching For Cattle Smugglers

The killiing of Shahinur Haque triggered protests in Tufanganj of West Bengal’s Cooch Behar .
Representative image.
TAUSEEF MUSTAFA via Getty Images
Representative image.

Protests broke out in the Tufanganjof West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district after Border Security Force (BSF) personnel reportedly killed a young man on Saturday while raiding a village, allegedly to search for cattle smugglers.

The Telegraph reported that protesters stopped the police from taking away the body of the deceased, identified as Shahinur Haque, and also ransacked an ambulance.

The Madhya Balabhut village in Tufanganj is close to the Bangladesh border.

The report quoted local residents as saying that the BSF personnel entered the village around 8:30 pm on Saturday and told them that they were searching for cattle smugglers. The residents say they heard a gun shot later.

North Bengal development minister Rabindranath Ghosh was quoted by The Telegraph as saying, “We have seen how certain activities of the BSF along the border have been criticised by the Bangladeshi authorities. Now, the security force that is supposed to guard the border and people living in our country is entering Indian villages and shooting people. I will seek the intervention of the chief minister to stop such atrocities by the BSF along the border.”

According to the report, the BSF has said that their personnel opened fire only because they were attacked by suspected cattle smugglers.

Read the entire report on The Telegraph here.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.