A court in Bangladesh has ordered the imprisonment of two Indian nationals who were injured in alleged firing by the Border Security Force (BSF), after rejecting their bail petitions in a case related to illegal entry into Bangladesh.
The order was issued on October 15 by Judge Rafiqul Islam of Rangpur Metropolitan Chief Judicial Magistrate Court-2.
The accused have been identified as Ismail Hossain (35) and Khaja Abdul Alim Mondal (39), both residents of Dhubri district in Assam, India.
According to the police complaint, authorities received information on October 4 that two injured Indian nationals were undergoing treatment at a clinic in Rangpur. When police questioned them and asked for valid travel documents, they were allegedly unable to produce passports or visas.
Police further alleged that the two men had entered Bangladesh through the Doikhawar Char border area under Ulipur in Kurigram district at around 6 am on the same day. After they reportedly failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for their presence in the country, a case was registered under Section 4 of the Control of Entry Act, 1952.
However, defence counsel Advocate Omar Faruk Sumon presented a different version of events. He claimed that the two men were working in a black gram field in the border area of Manikarchar in India when BSF personnel questioned them about their identity. Although they identified themselves as Indian citizens, the BSF allegedly accused them of being Bangladeshis, detained them, assaulted them and injured them with pellet gunfire.
According to the lawyer, the injured men were later abandoned by BSF personnel near the Doikhawar Char border adjoining Bangladesh. Local boatmen and fishermen then rescued them and took them to Rangpur for medical treatment.
Advocate Sumon argued that the two men may have been pushed into Bangladesh in a manner similar to recent cross-border incidents that have drawn attention in the region. He said these arguments were presented before the court.
Considering the sensitivity of the matter, the court rejected their bail applications and remanded them to judicial custody. The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for October 27.