The home ministry paid Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of two men killed by the BSF around three years ago on the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district following a recommendation by the National Human Rights Commission.
The NHRC closed the case in July after ascertaining that the home ministry paid compensation to the victims’ families.
Miltan Sheikh and Santu Sheikh were allegedly killed while smuggling cattle across the India-Bangladesh border early morning on December 28, 2010. Kirity Roy, national secretary of Masum, a human rights group, had complained to NHRC about alleged human rights violation and excesses committed by BSF. He had recently written to NHRC asking why punishment was not recommended for the guilty BSF personnel.
While accepting that Miltan and Santu were part of a group of cattle smugglers intercepted by BSF, the complainant alleged they were killed in captivity.
The BSF had said its constable fired in self-defence after the cattle smugglers attacked him with lathis and a sharp weapon, locally called dah.
NHRC, however, rejected BSF’s claim. The BSF could not furnish any proof of injury — treatment record or wound certificate — of its personnel who fired on the victims.
NHRC held that Miltan and Santu were smuggling cattle and had, therefore, broken the law. “But they had posed no threat to the life of the constable who opened fire at a very close range, and clearly shot to kill them which amounted to a grievous violation of human rights,” NHRC said in a statement.
The postmortem report showed Miltan and Santu were shot once through the skull. “The entry wounds were blackened and burnt, confirming that the shots were fired at contact range,” NHRC held.
The men were shot at close range, but there was no evidence that they inflicted injury on the constable. So the right of private defence as invoked by BSF did not apply in this case, NHRC said.
However, some security force personnel believe such orders hurt the morale of the force deployed on the ground in difficult conditions. “Such orders will put the security forces on the defensive. They will be deterred from being proactive and taking calculated risks in the interest of ensuring security,” said a senior officer of the central forces.
Human rights activists welcomed the order. “There are ample instances where BSF acts on the border with absolute disregard for the human rights of people living along the border. This is not killing in combat or self-defence. How can murder of civilians be justified,” said Suhas Chakma, director, Asian Centre for Human Rights.
Source: The Times of India