103 BGB Members Injured in Student Movement, Several Hit by Police Bullets

During the anti-discrimination student movement, one member of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) was killed, and 103 were injured, several of whom were wounded by police gunfire.

In response to a question at a press conference held at the BGB headquarters in Dhaka’s Pilkhana on Thursday, BGB Director General (DG) Major General Mohammad Ashraful Islam Siddique revealed this information.

The DG stated, "Out of the 103 BGB members injured during the student movement, unfortunately, some were hit by police birdshot. They were on duty in the same area as the police."

Answering another question, the DG clarified, "No BGB member is missing, and none of our weapons are unaccounted for. However, some of our vehicles were burned during the protests."

Highlighting BGB's manpower of around 57,000, the chief explained, "We were deployed in only six locations during the student-people’s movement."

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He added, "There were meetings where the former Home Minister and other state leaders questioned why fewer members were deployed."

The DG further commented, "There were accusations that BGB deliberately did not play the same role as the police in suppressing the movement."

"As a government force, BGB had to follow government orders and deploy its members. BGB possesses 15-20 times more lethal weapons than the police because, in case of a war on the border, BGB is the first line of defense under the military. None of these resources were deployed intentionally during the movement."

The DG claimed that although BGB sent patrol pickups during the protests, they did not carry light machine guns (LMGs). "We ensured that no BGB member was stationed with an LMG because these are fully loaded. We made every effort to avoid any loss of life due to BGB actions."

He acknowledged that the students and the public were protesting for legitimate reasons, saying, "Towards the end of July, when mass arrests began, BGB was also asked to make arrests, but none of our members arrested anyone. We were asked to use helicopters, but we did not do that either."

The BGB Director General shared this information two months after the change in government, explaining that the situation had previously prevented him from speaking out. He added, "Our commanders know the kind of pressure we were under and how we carried out our responsibilities back in July."