A brutal act of murder: Pande

NEW DELHI, April 22: Eight of the 15 BSF soldiers, killed by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel along the Indo-Bangla border were shot dead to point blank range after being brutally tortured while another was strangulated, Home Secretary Kamal Pande said today reports PTI. "It is a brutal act of murder," Pande told reporters after a high-level meeting presided over by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to discuss the killing of BSF soldiers at Boraibari along the Assam border and the intrusion by BDR in Pyrdiwah in Meghalaya. The meeting was attended by Home Minister LK Advani, Defence and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission KC Pant, National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, BSF Director General Gurbachan Jagat and senior officials. While detailed autopsy reports were awaited, "it is quite clear that eight of the bodies bore point-blank bullet wounds with mutilation and multiple injuries. Another BSF jawan bore wounds of strangulation," Pande said. The Home Secretary said it was "a unilateral action by the BDR troops and Government of Bangladesh was not aware of it." The entire situation was discussed at the meeting which also deliberated on a preliminary report given by the BSF chief who made an on-the-spot assessment of the developments in Pyrdiwah and Boraibari besides supervising handing over of the bodies of BSF personnel. Details of how the whole incident had taken place would be available only after the two injured personnel gave their versions, he said. Asked whether there was any discontentment among the BSF personnel along the Indo-Bangla border, Pande said "yes, there is resentment on the ground." He said in Meghalaya, the BDR personnel had dug trenches and taken positions before capturing the Indian border outpost at Pyrdiwah. In Boraibari, it was yet to be ascertained how the BSF personnel, who set out on patrol duty, were captured or hijacked. Asked how the Bangladesh government was being absolved of its responsibilities, Pande said the Bangladesh Foreign Secretary had publicly stated that Dhaka was not aware of the unilateral action.