BSF rejects Bangladeshi counterpart's claims of killing smugglers on border

New Delhi (India), July 18 (ANI): Border Security Force (BSF) has rejected the claims of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) regarding the killing of smugglers along the India-Bangladesh frontier, terming it "completely incorrect".

The BSF maintained that it opens fire only in self-defence and has been using non-lethal policy since 2011 to avoid casualties, in response to BGB's claims of BSF "killing and torturing" smugglers.

Speaking to ANI, BSF Deputy Commandant Kunwar Singh Mehto said that the BSF has been using 12 bore pump action gun and types of hand grenades like stun, chilli and dye under the policy.

Elaborating on the features of non-lethal weapons the BSF uses, Mehto said, "The pump action gun is a very effective weapon in tackling the smugglers as it hardly misses the target. The pellets hit the target up to 24 metres."

"The three types of hand grenades are very useful and effective when it comes to scaring away the smugglers in a large number. Stun grenade has the ability to suddenly frighten the person while chilli grenade, as the name suggests, produces chilli smoke which deters the person from moving ahead," he said.

The officer continued, "Dye grenade paints black colour on the clothes and body of the smugglers in close range. It leads to the arrest of the smuggler as the colour cannot be washed away for 48 hours."

Smuggling of cattle, drugs and narcotics, leather, arms and ammunition has been a major challenge for the BSF and the BGB - the border guarding forces of the two countries.

According to the BSF, as many as 211 of its personnel were injured between 2015 and 2016 while tackling the menace of smuggling along the border.