Two Border Security Force jawans were seriously injured and their weapons snatched after more than a hundred Bangladeshi villagers attacked them with sharp-edged weapons in a field along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal on Sunday, officials said.
"BSF jawans of border outpost Nirmalchar were on duty when they stopped Bangladeshi farmers from bringing their cattle to the fields of Indian farmers.
"Immediately, more than a hundred villagers and miscreants from Bangladesh entered the Indian side and attacked the jawans with sticks and sharp-edged weapons (Dahs)," a BSF spokesperson for South Bengal frontier headquartered in Kolkata said.
Two jawans were seriously injured in the attack that took place under the Berhampore sector in Murshidabad district, he said.
Photos shared by the BSF showed deep gashes on the heads of the jawans and their uniforms soaked in blood.
The spokesperson said the attackers fled to Bangladesh after snatching the weapons of the troops.
The BSF later called for a flag meeting with its counterpart Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) so that the weapons of the jawans could be recovered and a repeat of such incidents could be prevented, the spokesperson said.
The BSF accused the BGB of taking "no concrete action" to stop such incidents despite them being informed about "many incidents" of Indian farmers' crops being destroyed as Bangladeshis forcibly brought their cattle for grazing on Indian land.
BSF jawans have been attacked several times in the past by "miscreants and their accomplices" in a planned manner, but the jawans did not let their plans succeed, the spokesperson said.
Officials said the area of Nirmalchar is very difficult and despite the lack of facilities, BSF jawans guard the border day and night.
The spokesperson said Indian farmers have been complaining about the theft and damage done to their crops by Bangladeshi villagers and hence the BSF has set a forward post to protect them while working in their fields.
The BSF has lodged an FIR against the unidentified Bangladeshi attackers at Ranitala police station in Murshidabad.
