A Border Security Force (BSF) personnel fired at international intruders in West Bengal's Nadia district after she was assaulted on Wednesday. The constable was attacked by around 14 infiltrators before a second BSF jawan reached the spot.
According to a statement released by BSF, a woman constable on duty at the Indo-Bangla border noticed several people approaching the border fence in the Ranaghat area in the early hours of Wednesday. As they tried to enter India from the Bangladesh side, she rushed towards them and stood in their way. Armed with knives and swords, they tried to intimidate the constable as she issued them a verbal warning.
As the BSF constable remained unbudged, the intruders surrounded and attacked her. A second BSF jawan reached the spot and tried to disperse the infiltrators using a stun grenade. But they were unmoved by the explosion, forcing the woman officer to draw her weapon.
"...fellow jawan also reached the spot and threw a stun grenade towards the intruders, which failed to deter them. To stop illegal crossing and in self-defence, the constable fired one round towards the intruders," the BSF statement said.
The paramilitary force said it is likely that an attacker was attacked in the firing. Since it was before dawn, the group used the darkness for cover and scrammed back to the Bangladeshi side of the border.
In another development, an infiltration bid from the Pakistani side was foiled by the Border Security Force (BSF) in Jammu and Kashmir late Wednesday when an intruder was shot dead, officials said on Thursday. The intrusion attempt happened along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district. The vigilant BSF troops near the Khora post late Wednesday noticed the infiltrator trying to make it to the Indian side.
The intruder paid no heed to the warnings from BSF personnel and was subsequently fired upon, news agency PTI quoted the official statement as saying.