Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel fired again towards Muktapur along the Meghalaya-Bangladesh border, the fourth time in less than six weeks, re-igniting tension in the area.
Locals said villagers in an area stated to be “adversely” held by India had gone fishing on Sunday afternoon, when miscreants pelted stones at them.
Soon after, the BDR fired several rounds, forcing the Border Security Force (BSF) to retaliate, BSF sources said, adding that there were no casualties.
This is the fourth firing by the BDR since February 4.
‘Unprovoked'
Later, a commandant-level flag meeting was held where the BSF protested against repeated “unprovoked firings” by their Bangladeshi counterparts.
BDR personnel on March 7 erected a red flag on the disputed area as a warning for Indians not to enter the place which, according to records, has been with India since 1947.
Four additional companies of the BSF have been deployed in the area in the wake of brewing tension. Locals said the Bangladesh Army had also moved closer to the border. Some 250 families had left Muktapur and adjoining areas.
According to official records, there is 551.8 acres of Bangladeshi land under “adverse possession” of India, while 226.81 acres of Indian land is under adverse possession of Bangladesh.
The areas under adverse possession, 11 of them in the Meghalaya sector, were created when the international boundary was made in the mid-1960s.
