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Josy Joseph in New Delhi
The 16 Border Security Force men who died in the skirmishes along the Bangladesh border could have been murdered in cold blood, after being stripped of their personal weapons, some war veterans in the capital feel.
According to information available, 16 BSF and two Bangladesh Rifles troops were killed in the attack at Boraibari in Assam on Wednesday. There is no definite information about the nature of their wounds, if they died at one spot or if the deaths took place over a period of time.
However, several former soldiers are baffled by the high number of the Indian casualties vis-à-vis the Bangladeshi side, though the BDR soldiers attacked the BSF post, according to information.
"Normally it is the attacker who suffers more casualties," points out Lieutenant General (retd) V K Sood. Traditionally, the ratio of casualty of attacker versus defender is about 3:1, because the attacker is charging, mostly in the open, while the defender is behind protection and stationary.
"16 people cannot die in an encounter. If it was a simple encounter, then there should have been heavier casualties on the Bangladesh side," Lt Gen Sood asserts. The general, who had been Western Army commander and vice-chief of the army staff, says from newspaper photographs of the blindfolded BSF personnel, it is clear that very harsh treatment was meted out to them.
While demanding a detailed investigation into the entire episode, Lt Gen Sood says the ultimate blame should lie with the BSF personnel, because they were caught unawares. "There has been an utter lack of vigilance. It smacks of an unprofessional operation," he said.
rediff.com columnist Major General Ashok K Mehta (retd), a veteran of several military operations, says it is "quite possible" that the BSF men were "completely surrounded, captured and finished off." He said the BDR operation seems to be "autonomous", without the sanction of the Bangladeshi prime minister and he likened it to what happened in Kargil.
Maj Gen Mehta felt unless all the BSF men were sleeping, it is impossible that they could have suffered such heavy casualties. "It is not easy to overpower a post of about 40 personnel," he pointed out.
Major General Y K Gere, an veteran of the Indian Peace Keeping Operation in Sri Lanka and a member of the tri-service think-tank United Services Institution, ruled out cold-blooded murder. However, such high casualties are not possible without the BSF being caught completely off-guard, he said.
The 16 people could have been killed at different locations, he felt. With the increasing volatility of the BSF's manned border, he felt the force needed to rethink its patrolling system. BSF employees on a gasht (patrol) along the border, assume it to be peaceful, and they are not covered properly by tactically placed pickets, as in the case of an Army patrol.
A serving senior Army officer said there should be a thorough inquiry to establish why there had been such high casualties, as "it is impossible that 16 people die in an attack on a post." He pointed out that even at the Line of Control, where there have been occasional raids on Indian posts by Pakistani soldiers there has never been such a high toll. "And it is more brutal, more fierce between India and Pakistan," the officer said.
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