Bipul Sen, who was allegedly tortured by BSF jawans, shows his injuries at Dinhata Subdivisional Hospital. Picture by Main Uddin Chisti

Dinhata, April 23: BSF jawans here have been accused of detaining and torturing two boys, claiming that they were accomplices of cattle smugglers.

Mithun Sen (15) and his cousi, Bipul Sen (14) were thrashed with the branch of a tree, blindfolded and kicked at the BSF outpost after the jawans tied their hands, the relatives and residents of Meghnarayanerkuthi, 45km from Cooch Behar, have alleged. Both the boys are in hospital.

“We were returning home from market on a bicycle when a couple of BSF jawans stopped us. Although we told them that we are school students, they began thrashing us with the branch of a tree saying we were cattle smugglers,” Mithun said from his bed in the Dinhata subdivisional hospital.

The boys said they were then bundled into a jeep and taken to a nearby outpost. “There, we saw seven men detained by the BSF ‘for cattle smuggling’. We were blindfolded and made to sit while the jawans took turns in kicking us with their heavy boots,” said Bipul.

Mithun’s father, Sasho Sen, said he became worried when the two boys failed to return home. “We made inquiries and learnt from people that the children had been taken to the BSF outpost. I then contacted a local panchayat leader and both of us went to the outpost at 2am. We found the boys there and got them released,” said Sen, a farmer. He added that both the boys were later admitted to the hospital.

The teachers and the students of Sukarurkuthi High School, where the boys study, and the villagers have decided to submit a mass petition to the subdivisional officer and the deputy inspector-general of the BSF.

The headmaster of the school, Prasanna Kumar Barman, who went to see the boys in hospital, said: “I cannot accept the manner in which they were tortured. This is despite the fact that BSF officers are conducting camps along the border to sensitise jawans on how to deal with villagers in a proper way.”

The deputy-inspector general of the BSF’s Cooch Behar range, P.J. Rao, said he had heard about the incident and was making inquiries to check the veracity of the story.

“In recent times, the area had become a haven for cattle smugglers. But after heightened vigil, we could fetter them. So it is possible that attempts are being made to create pressure on us by levelling groundless allegations. However, I will inquire into the charges and speak to the villagers as well,” said Rao.