India’s Border Security Force shot dead a Bangladeshi cattle trader along Putkhali border at Benapol in Jessore on early Sunday.
The deceased was identified as Shafiar Rahman, 35, resident of Kagojpuker village.
Abdul Kader, commander of the Bangladesh Rifles’ Putkhali camp, said that BSF soldiers of Jhaudanga camp fired several shots when a group of cattle traders, including Shafiar, were returning home along with cattle, leaving Shafiar dead on the spot.
The Indian border guards later dragged his body into their land.
The BDR authorities, in a letter to their Indian counterparts, lodged a protest against the killing, said Kader.
The BSF have killed 18 Bangladeshi civilians since September 27 when the directors-general of the BDR and the BSF met in Dhaka to discuss border issues.
According to rights organisation Odhikar, 875 Bangladeshis were killed and 923 injured in firing by the Indian BSF from 1 January, 2000 and 31 August, 2010. It said that 933 Bangladeshis were abducted by BSF in the same period.
The BSF have killed 66 Bangladeshis in nine months of the current year ending on November 30.
