One Scheduled Caste person was inhumanly tortured by BSF, police inaction, denial of livelihood
It was on 19
February 2010, BSF personnel of No.4 outpost under BSF Company Headquarter
returned at least 70 infiltrated cattle to Bangladeshi Nationals in return
of some bribe. Those cattle were earlier seized by Mr. Birendra Nath Mondal,
a poor farmer aged 56 years with the help of some fellow farmers while they
were guarding their agricultural land. The victim along with other fellow
villagers reported the matter to Raninagar police station on 19 February
2010, but the police personnel did not register the complaint. Subsequently,
they reported the matter to Superintendent of Police, District – Murshidabad.
Even then no action had been initiated on the complaint.
Later, on 01 March 2010, Mr. Birendra Nath Mondal was called for to Char
Moirashi BSF camp under pretension of discussing Indo-Bangladesh border area
problems with villagers. However, on reaching there, his voter identity card
was snatched (in spite of repeated appeal by the victim, it is not returned
till date) and the BSF personnel including Camp Commander started beating
him for allegedly being an Human Rights Defender in that area. The torture
continued for next eight hours and they released him from their unlawful
confinement after torturing him physically as well as psychologically in a
very gruelling condition.
Next morning, i.e. on 02 March 2010, he went to the Raninagar police station
with bruises and marks of torture all over his body to file a complaint
against the perpetrator BSF personnel. But again, those police personnel
turned a blind eye to his complaint. Without losing his hope in justice, he
made a written complaint to the Superintendent of Police, District –
Murshidabad on 04 March 2010. But even that complaint has not been obliged
till date and no case has been initiated against the BSF personnel. This is
repeated violation of section 154 of Code of Criminal Procedure by the
police personnel of Raninagar police station as well as by the
Superintendent of Police of Murshidabad district.
This incident once more establishes the fact that the right to life and
liberty of people residing in the nearby villages in Indo-Bangladesh border
area is at peril in the hands of the Border Security Force.