A suspected cattle smuggler was injured in an encounter with the Border Security Forces (BSF) at a border outpost in Coochbehar district in West Bengal near the Bangladesh border.
As per BSF personnel, the encounter took place as a result of a group suspected to be smugglers attacking them near the Deribas Border Outpost.
The incident took place in the wee hours of Thursday.
The BSF said, “A group of 15 to 20 miscreants forcibly tried to smuggle cattle heads from the area of Daribas border outpost in Coochbehar Sector (West Bengal) of Guwahati Frontier.
“BSF troops during the incident challenged them and fired one round of non-lethal pump action gun ammo which misfired.”
But the suspected smugglers encircled and attacked the troops and also attempted to snatch the weapon from one of the jawans.
“Sensing an imminent threat to his life, the jawan fired in the air from his weapon in self-defense but these warning shots could not deter them and continued to encircle the jawans”, the BSF added.
Since the persons were still trying to attack the BSF personnel, they had to “resort” to a few more shots after which the suspected smugglers fled from the spot.
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However, during the firing, one person received bullet injuries on his shoulder and was left behind.
He was apprehended by the BSF and was given immediate first-aid.
The injured person was identified as Lutfar Rahman, a resident of Jaridalla village in Coochbehar district.
The BSF further stated that the injured person is an “active cattle courier/smuggler”.
His wife is also accused of being involved in trans-border crimes.
“His wife was apprehended by the troops of BSF in November 2020 under NDPS Act. Since then she has been under judicial custody”, said BSF.