BSF jawan to face court martial

MALDA, Dec. 4: The BSF has decided to court martial a jawan who had lost magazines of his Insas rifle on 30 December night during night patrol at the Hili border in South Dinajpur district. “The BSF has started court martial proceedings against him. It would be completed within 15 days and he would receive his punishment accordingly,” the DIG, Malda sector BSF, Mr PS Tomar, said. The magazines had ended up in the hands of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) authorities and were recovered after a meeting between senior BSF and BDR officials on 1 January. According to Mr Tomar, a jawan of the 57 Battalion has been charged with dereliction of duty in the incident and would be punished accordingly. Although the DIG claimed that the jawan in question was having a chat with his friends, ignoring his responsibility at the border, some locals and the Central Intelligence officials alleged that the jawan was merry making with “guests” from across the border, when some intruders from the other side sneaked in and made away with the magazines. Once on the other side, the BDR apprehended the intruders and impounded the magazines. After coming to know of the incident, senior BSF officials arranged for a meeting with the BDR officials and managed to get back the missing magazines. The incident has created quite a flutter and has caused serious embarrassment for the BSF. SNS