BSF fire kills man

Statesman News Service

MALDA, March 4: Peeved at the death of a civilian in BSF firing, residents of Bhimpur village in South Dinajpur’s Hili police station area attacked the border guards today, injuring one of them seriously.Trouble broke out after a BSF jawan, Mr P Jayakumar, allegedly shot dead one Shyamal Mahato (45), suspecting him to be a cattle smuggler, at Bhimpur village around 3 pm today. The villagers became furious after the death of Shymal and attacked the BSF jawans.“The villagers turned violent after seeing the body of Shyamal lying on the spot. They first attacked Mr Jayakumar who was on duty at the spot. Other BSF jawans rushed to the spot and opened blank fire to control the situation. This led to a clash between the BSF jawans and the villagers,” the South Dinajpur ASP, Mr Bhuban Mandal, said. The villagers also damaged a vehicle of the BSF officials when they visited the spot. Police said the injured jawan, Mr Jayakumar, was rushed to the Hili hospital from where he was referred to the Balurghat hospital in a serious condition. “The jawan received a bullet injury in his leg,” said a police officer. A police team, headed by DSP (HQ), rushed to the spot to control the angry mob. “The villagers came under control after Mr A Karia, second-in-command, 57 battalion, assured them that the jawan would be punished if found guilty,” the ASP, Mr Mandal, said.