A first information report (FIR) has been filed and a department inquiry has been ordered.
A probe has been ordered after a team of security personnel was attacked near the Indo-Bangladesh border in Tripura on Monday and a man, who was reportedly one of the "trans-border miscreants", died, the BSF (Border Security Force) has said in a statement. Locals in a village near the border, however, protested after his death and said that the man had "no reason to attack" the BSF team.
On Monday, a team was on duty at around 11 AM when seven-eight "trans-border miscreants" tried to damage the Indo- Bangladesh Border (IBB) Fence with "an ill intention to smuggle cattle to Bangladesh", the BSF said in a statement.
"When the troops on duty tried to resist such unlawful act, the miscreants adopted aggressive posture and physically attacked the BSF party using "Dah" & "Lathis", which resulted in serious injuries to one of the BSF Jawans. Meanwhile, a large crowd gathered at the spot encircling the BSF party," it said.
"Sensing imminent danger to life and property, (the) BSF party resorted to fire of one shot by non-lethal weapon - Pump Action Gun (PAG) - in self-defense, resultantly all miscreants fled away from the spot and reportedly one miscreant namely Jasim Miah (from a village in South Tripura district) sustained pellet injury. Further (it was) learnt that the injured miscreant was evacuated to PHC Hrishyamukh and further referred to Sub Divisional Hospital Belonia, where the doctor declared him dead," the statement read.
A first information report (FIR) has been filed and a department inquiry has been ordered.
The village of Jasim Mia, the man who died, saw protests as locals said he had "no reason" to attack the security personnel. His family owned the cattle that he took out to graze along the borders.
"According to a BSF eye witnesses present there, the shots were fired in self defence when the youth attacked with a sharp object. We are, however, still continuing with our investigation and verifying all the inputs," a BSF official said.
Local police said they've heightened the security arrangements amid tensions in the village.
Meanwhile, the BSF, in its statement, stressed that it has "adopted the non-lethal policy as a tool to ensure safety to life of even the trans-border smugglers and miscreants" in order to "imbibe more humanitarian approach in its dealings".