A courtesy meeting was held at the Banglabandha-Phulbari ICP on the Bangladesh-India border between the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Rangpur Region and the BSF North Bengal Frontier.

BGB voiced a loud protest and denounced the border killings during the meeting.

The Thursday meeting started at about 1:00 p.m.

Brigadier General Khandaker Shafiquzzaman, the BGB’s commander for the Rangpur Region, Colonel Muhammad Touhidur Rahman, the BGB’s commander for the Thakurgaon Sector, and other officials represented the organization.

Inspector General Shri Surya Kumar Sharma of the BSF’s North Bengal Frontier, however, along with other BSF officials and deputy inspector generals from the Siliguri and Kishanganj sectors, represented the BSF.

Colonel Muhammad Touhidur Rahman confirmed the matter around 11pm on Thursday.

During the meeting, BGB strongly condemned the killing of Bangladeshi teenager Jayanta Kumar Singh, 15, who was shot dead by BSF on September 9 in Thakurgaon.

The Inspector General of BSF North Bengal Frontier expressed regret for the unfortunate incident and assured the BGB delegation that the BSF would not open fire on any Bangladeshi citizens at the border in the future.

The meeting also saw both sides agreeing to work jointly to raise awareness among the citizens living in the border areas, prevent illegal border crossings, and curb cross-border crimes.