Agartala, Jan 21 (IANS) India's Border Security Force (BSF) Saturday handed over to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) one of their troopers who was held by villagers a day earlier for killing an Indian along the Tripura border, officials said.
BGB havaldar Lutfar Rahman, 55, was apprehended by angry villagers after BGB troopers entered the Indian territory and shot dead Indian farmer Shah Alam Mia, 40, on the border with western Tripura Friday, Tripura government officials told reporters here.
Senior BSF officials immediately rushed to the tension ridden Sonamura, 80 km west of Agartala, and held a flag meeting with their BGB counterparts to discuss the situation.
"Following high level directions, the BSF has handed over the BGB jawan to his senior officials early Saturday," an official added.
Bangladesh's online newspaper bdnews24.com, quoting BGB Spokesman Mohsin Reza, said that BGB's Director General Maj. Gen. Anwar Hossain had spoken to BSF Director General U.K. Bansal on phone from Dhaka and discussed the matter.
"Bansal assured Hossain that the BGB havaldar would be released soon," it said.
Tension still runs high in the bordering villages of western Tripura following the incident.
Police and BSF officers have been camping at the troubled spot since Friday and reinforcements were sent to the area.
Tripura shares a 856-km border with Bangladesh, some of it unfenced and running through dense forests, making it porous and vulnerable.
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