An intruder soldier of an elite security force of Bangladesh landed in an Indian jail after the Border Security Force (BSF) failed to hand him over to its Bangladeshi counterpart, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). A court in Sonamura in Seepahijala district, West Tripura, sent Mohammad Milan Hussain, soldier of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), charged with violating the Indian Passport Act, to judicial custody for two weeks.
Hussain was part of an RAB contingent that infiltrated the Indian side at Rahimpur village adjacent to the international border on Saturday to search for a consignment of banned cough syrup, which is smuggled to Bangladesh in large quantities. As the villagers protested the raids, a woman and a few others were injured.
“The villagers caught one RAB man while the rest fled across the border,” Timir Das, Seepahijala Additional Superintendent of Police, told The Hindu .
He said the RAB men were in civilian clothes but armed. Hussain informed the BSF and the police that the team was headed by a senior officer, Mohammad Kamrulzaman.
The BSF first took custody of the intruder and took him to Ashabari camp where he was interrogated by Indian security and intelligence officials. “He cooperated during questioning and we believe he just complied with the order to conduct a search in the village,” a BSF official said.
The BGB responded to a call from the BSF to hold a flag meeting where a formal protest against the intrusion was lodged. In the meeting that continued till Saturday midnight, the BGB refused to confirm the identity of Hussain and did not offer to take him back.
The BSF called the police on Sunday morning to transfer his custody.
“Villagers did not file a complaint, so we booked him under the Passport Act. The court sent him to judicial custody for 14 days,” Mr. Das stated.
Mr. Das said that like his fellow soldiers, Hussain was also armed but when caught by the villagers he threw away his weapon towards his fleeing colleagues. His official identify card was recovered from his possession.
