On the recommendation of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Union Home Ministry has paid Rs five lakh each as monetary relief to the next of kin of two persons killed by a BSF man in West Bengal.
Two cattle smugglers Miltan Sheikh and Santu Sheikh were shot dead by a BSF constable on December 28, 2010 in West Bengal's Murshidabad district.
The Commission had made the recommendation for monetary relief after holding that the BSF claim that its constable opened fire in imminent danger to his life could not be accepted as no proof was provided in the form of his treatment record or wound certificate to indicate any injury on him, an NHRC statement released today said.
The postmortem report showed that both men were shot once through the skull, with the entry wounds blackened and burnt, confirming that the shots were fired at contact range, it said.
"If the men were shot at very close range, but without any evidence having inflicted any injury on the constable, the right of private defence, which the BSF had invoked, did not apply," the statement said.
The Commission observed that the two men were smuggling cattle and had, therefore, broken the law, but, as established, they had posed no threat to the life of the constable who opened fire at them from a very close range, which amounted to a grievous violation of human rights.
The complainant had accepted that these men were among a group of cattle smugglers, which had been intercepted by the BSF, but alleged that they were killed in captivity.
