Kolkata:
A disturbing video that has now been accessed by the media including NDTV shows what appears to be a group of jawans beating up a young man ruthlessly near the Bangladesh border after he allegedly refused to give them a bribe. The victim is seen on the ground with his hands and feet tied as the men in uniform torture and strip him.
NDTV cannot confirm the origin or authenticity of the video. Details of what happened are emerging slowly. The assault reportedly took place in Murshidabad district in West Bengal close to the Bangladesh border.
The men in uniform allegedly suspected their victim was a cow smuggler. When they caught him, he allegedly refused to pay them a bribe. They retaliated viciously. Locals are saying the man was then pushed across the border into Bangladesh but this has not been independently confirmed.
Eight Border Security Force jawans have been suspended over the incident. The suspended personnel have been identified as Constables Virender Tiwari, V S Victor, Dhananjay Kumar, Anand Singh, Amar Jyoti, Sanjeev Kumar, Suresh Chand and Sunil Kumar. Top officers of the BSF say the incident took place on December 9 and that further probe is on.
"The eight personnel have been identified and suspended pending inquiry," Deputy Inspector General (DIG) at BSF headquarters, Vikas Chandra, said.
"A news video clipping showing violent and illegal conduct by three-four men in uniform in the area of Murshidabad, West Bengal has been taken note of by BSF headquarters. A detailed staff court-of-inquiry has been ordered to fix responsibility and take action under BSF Act and rules for this misconduct," BSF PRO T Acharya said.
Acharya added that the Commandant of 105 battalion, to which the suspended personnel belong, has been asked to immediately visit the spot and ascertain full details of the incident.
One theory on how the video came to light is that a cyber cafe owner downloaded the footage from a jawan's cellphone when the jawan visited the cafe to download music. Another version is that BSF members circulated the video as a warning to other cow smugglers.
Cow smuggling is common at the Indo-Bangladesh border at Murshidabad which has a 135 km border with the neighbouring country. Only 110 km of that border is apparently fenced.
(
With PTI Inputs)