Tripura BSF Commandant hit by smuggler vehicle, suffered critical head injury

Agartala (Tripura) [India] October 16 (ANI): A senior Border Security Force (BSF) official was seriously injured earlier today after he was hit by a vehicle of suspected smugglers suffering critical head injuries.

BSF Commandant Deepak Kumar Mondal, who was attacked by miscreants in Tripura, was immediately admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata.

The incident took place along the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura near Belardeppa border post around 2 a.m. today.

As Second-in-Command Mondal, who was then officiating Commandant, of 145 battalion of the BSF during a night operation, had challenged and tried to capture a cattle smuggler's gang.

Smugglers' vehicle hit the officer from behind where he was critically injured in his head and back.

In the meantime, BSF guards had fired but taking advantage of the darkness the vehicle and the smugglers fled from the area.

Officiating Inspector General (IG) of BSF Tripura frontier, Ashok Kumar Yadav said that Mondal was halting at the Belardeppa border outpost and when he received information of some movement at 1:40 a.m., he went out and noticed some suspected movement.

He stopped there to inspect and came out of his vehicle.

Smugglers who were trying to send buffaloes on the other side (Bangladesh) tried to capture Mondal and one of their vehicles had hit him.

Meantime, BSF guards fired four to five rounds and therefore, the smugglers fled.

"Due to the accident Mondal had received head injury and went to coma. He also sustained injuries in other parts of his body but the head injury is critical and so he has been referred to Kolkata where he reached at around 1:15 p.m." Yadav said.

Yadav also informed that the situation is normal in the police and very soon the culprits shall be arrested.

Airport sources said Mondal's condition was very critical as his whole body had bandages.

Immediately he was rushed to a local hospital in Agartala where doctors found he had serious head and back injuries.

As his condition deteriorated at around 11:40 a.m., he was airlifted to Kolkata for better treatment.

Tripura has some 857 km border with Bangladesh but despite barbed wire fencing coming up in more than 70 percent of the border, smuggling is rampant. (ANI)