May 20, 1999 – Bangladesh lodges protest with India on border issue – Daily Excelsior
DHAKA, May 20: Bangladesh today protested what it called violation of a border guideline by the Border Security Force (BSF) which constructed a defence structure near the borders along West Bengal. India’s Deputy High Commissioner to Dhaka, Pinak Ranjan Chakraborty, was called to the Foreign Ministry here to receive a protest note and asked to ensure stoppage of the alleged construction near Majirpara border of Tetulia Police Station in Panchagarh district in Northern Bangladesh. Dhaka also asked New Delhi to resolve the dispute by holding a flag meeting of border guards of the two countries, the official BSS news agency said. BSS quoted a Foreign Ministry source as saying that as per Indo-Bangla border guideline, none of the countries can go ahead in making defence construction within 150 yards of the zero line. In the present case, the guideline has been violated. BSS said tension built up yesterday when BSF personnel were seen erecting a trench near the Ajirpara border of Tetulia Thana. Dhaka’s protest comes a month after the frontier shootout between the border guards of the two countries in which at least seven people, including two BSF personnel and a Bangladesh Rifles Naik, were killed and several injured on April 19. (PTI)