By TCN News,
Murshidabad: The National Human Rights Commission was on Wednesday approached for conducting a probe into the killings of four teenaged boys allegedly by BSF jawans on 31st December 2011 in Murshidabad. The four were killed without using bullets near a mini camp of the border security force situated near India-Bangladesh border.
Kirity Roy, National Convenor, Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI), on 21st March wrote a complaint to the NHRC seeking their probe into the killings and full safety and security for the family members of the deceased as they are frightened.
“I want to attract your attention on an incident of gruesome killings of 4 teenaged boys by the posted Border Security Force personnel. I am perturbed with the fact and reality of continuous killing spree by BSF personnel at the Indo- Bangladesh bordering district. In this shocking incident, BSF personnel following their mandate not used lethal weapon to kill those boys rather forced the victims to stay put in ice cold water for hours and while they tried to came out of water severely beaten with sticks. Ultimately they died. Out of four victims, three boys are from Dalit community and one from religious minority group,” Roy wrote in the complaint.
“The inhumanity shown by the BSF personnel is against any law of civilized land and in continuation of savage and berserk act of torture and intimidation,” alleged Roy who is also Secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM).
Details of the killings as provided by Roy to NHRC
Name and other details of the victims – 1) Sunil Mondal, son of Mr. Nabadwip Mondal, aged 16 years 2) Sukumar Mondal, son of Mr. Ramesh Chandra Mondal, aged about 15 years 3) Babar Seikh, son of Mr. Nasidul Seikh, aged about 19 years and 4) Raju Mondal, son of Mr. Nimai Mondal aged about 17 years residents of Char Durgapur, Harudanga, Char Bansgora and Char Durgapur villages respectively of Harudanga post office, under Raninagar police station of Murshidabad district. All are minors except no.3. Sl. No. 1 Sunil; Sl. No. 2 Sukumar & Sl. No. 4 Raju are from Scheduled Caste (Dalit) community and Sl. No. 3 Babar is Muslim.
Sunil Mondal
Details of the perpetrators – about 30-35 Border Security Force personnel attached with Harudanga Border Security Force Mini Camp under 105 BSF Battalion
Date and time of the occurrence – Midnight of 31st December, 2011 and 1st January 2012
Babar Sheik
Place of Occurrence – In front of Harudanga Mini BSF BOP Camp, near Golpak ( a rivulet of Padma) situated at Nirmal Char under Ranitala police station
Case Detail
The victims belong to socio- economically marginalized section of the society and deprived off any governmental deliverances. All the families are victims of river erosion by river Padma and lost their agrarian lands. They sustain on their small pieces of land and by putting their labour on agrarian lands of others.
On fateful day the mentioned boys in their teen were out of their houses on the pretext of having a New Year bash but it was revealed during the fact finding that they were involved in cattle rattling as mere courier at the said time. They collected about 50 cows from some Dhananjay Mondal and Sandip Mondal Border Para and Char Durgapur under Raninangar police station. The said boys were with other rattlers who tried to smuggle out the cattle at the midnight from the adjacent area of the said Mini Camp. By sensing this BSF personnel fired from flare gun and located that few of them tried to hide at the said rivulet. The rivulet is nearly 2 kilometers inside the Indian Territory and 120 feet in width, 12 feet deep and 2 kilometers in length. BSF personnel from the Mini Camp wasted no time and traveled about 2 kilometers to reach at the place from the said Mini Camp. The mentioned 4 teenage boys with another rattler Tapas Mondal alias Bhenu Mondal, son of Panchanan Mondal of Char Durgapur village were surrounded by nearly 30 BSF personnel. The only survivor, Tapas Mondal received burn injury from the flare gun shot and somehow managed to flee from the place. The BSF personnel surrounded the place and while the boys tried to come up from the ice cold water of full winter, they were resisted and beaten with their sticks and all of them died at the rivulet. One of the deceased; Sukumar Mondal had marks of blood oozing out on his ear and nostrils apart from injuries caused by heavy canning. The marks of beating with sticks were allover the bodies of the deceased. The deceased were all good swimmers as usual and the chances of drowning are unimaginable.
Body of Sukumar Mondal
On 1st January, 2012 at evening, the bodies of Sunil Mondal and Sukumar Mondal appeared and many villagers witness the same. The news spread like wildfire and family members of the deceased later identified their bodies. The villagers informed Ranitala police station about the incident and police from the said police station came along with 4-5 BSF personnel from the said Mini Camp and brought the bodies to Ranitala police station at about 9 pm. Later, on 2nd January 2012 at about 2 pm, other two bodies of Babar Seikh and Raju Mondal were appeared and again the Ranitala police station brought the bodies to the police station and on 3.1.12 the bodies were sent for post mortem examination at Lalbagh Sub Divisional Hospital. The post mortem examinations were done in two consecutive days; 3.1.12 and 4.1.12 for Sunil Mondal and Sukumar Mondal, and Babar Seikh and Raju Mondal respectively.
School Certificate of Sukumar > Date of Birth 1st Feb 1997
Fathers of the deceased boys made written complaint on 27.1.2012 to the Superintendent of Police- Murshidabad. The complainants observed about the involvement of BSF personnel in this gruesome murder of the teenaged boys and requested for a impartial and adequate inquiry. The police initiated unnatural death cases vide Ranitala PS UD Case Nos. 1 and 2, dated 2.1.12 for Sunil Mondal and Sukumar Mondal respectively and 3 and 4, dated 3.1.12 for Babar Seikh and Raju Mondal respectively. While our activist contacted Ranitala police station for detail of the incident, they refused to divulge any information.
Website: www.masum.org.in