Bangladeshis being gunned down by India's Border Security Forces (BSF) in the border areas is unacceptable, says Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.
He made the remarks while briefing the media on the prime minister’s upcoming Italy visit on Sunday (Feb 2).
“We are extremely alert about the border killings. Whenever such an incident is reported, we summon the Indian envoy,” he said.
He added this year border killings have increased and it was “unfortunate.”
“The Indian government has always promised that not a single person will die. But the killings continue,” he said.
Earlier in January, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Director General Shafeenul Islam said that there were 35 killings in different border areas of Bangladesh in 2019. However, rights body Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) claims the number to be 43.
According to the BGB chief, the number of border killings last year was the highest in comparison with the last four years.





On Jan 26, a legal notice was served to the government, saying that as of Jan 24, seven Bangladeshis were gunned down in a week as per media reports.
The notice cited an analysis of rights body Adhikar saying, “BSF killed 1,144 Bangladeshi nationals between 2000 and 2018.”
According to media reports cited in the notice, except wartime, BSF have nearly zero cases for the killing nationals of India’s other six border-sharing countries.