KOLKATA/MALDA/DHAKA: Indian and Bangladeshi farmers clashed at the border in Malda’s Sukhdevpur on Saturday, with Indian nationals claiming that their Bangladeshi counterparts were stealing their standing crops and the Bangladeshis saying the Indians had crossed over and cut down their mango trees.
Trouble began at around 11.45 am when Indian farmers said they spotted their Bangladeshi counterparts allegedly harvesting crops from Indian territory near the BSF’s 119 border outpost at Sukhdevpur. A verbal altercation quickly escalated into a violent confrontation, with farmers from both sides engaging in stone-pelting, BSF sources said.
BSF and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel rushed to the spot, managed to disperse the crowds and restore order.
However, Bangladeshi nationals were reportedly seen within 50 to 75 metres of the international border until late afternoon.
“We were working on our fields when we saw them stealing our crops. When confronted, they grew aggressive,” said an Indian farmer.
Bangladeshi farmers, however, claimed Saturday’s incident began when they went to harvest wheat on land in Bangladeshi territory near the zero line.While they were working, they said, Indian farmers crossed over and cut down several mango trees inside Bangladeshi territory.
According to the Bengali daily “Prothom Alo”, three Bangladeshi nationals were injured.
The area where the clash took place is an enclave, making proper fencing difficult. This also allows locals from both sides to stray easily into the other side.
“The situation is under control. No injuries have been reported from either side,” BSF deputy commandant Rakesh Singh said. Indian farmers have been told to report any such incident to the BSF instead of taking matters into their hands, he added.
Local administration officials said they would meet village heads to address the issue. Meanwhile, additional BSF personnel have been deployed to maintain peace.
Earlier, tensions had escalated over the construction of a barbed wire fence by the BSF along the Sukhdevpur border, adjacent to the Chauka border. The situation prompted a battalion-commander-level flag meeting between the BGB and BSF at the Chauka border to address the issue, said our sources on the condition of anonymity.
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