Tura, May 25: Indian and Bangladeshi officers today unveiled a memorial at Killapara near the Indo-Bangla border to pay homage to nine jawans who laid down their lives saving Dalu town from Pakistani occupation on this day during the 1971 Indo-Pak war.

Among the officers present were BSF director-general Subhash Joshi and his Bangladesh Border Guards counterpart, Maj. Gen. Aziz Ahmed. Also present was the lone survivor of the historic battle, Company Commander B.S. Tyagi, and Maya Kalita, the widow of one of the jawans, constable P.C. Kalita.

Dalu, 52km from here, was an important border outpost at the height of the war, during which several lakh refugees streamed in from across the border to escape atrocities committed by East Pakistani troops.

The 83rd battalion of the BSF was deployed in the Dalu sector of Garo hills at that time. One company from the Dalu border outpost was deployed at Killapara, through which several thousand Bangladeshi refugees, along with high-ranking political dignitaries of East Pakistan, were flowing in, seeking shelter in refugee camps across the region.

On the morning of May 25, 1971, a Pakistan army battalion launched a full-scale attack on the Killapara border outpost. The attack was repulsed twice by the handful of BSF jawans manning the post though they were hugely outnumbered. The nine BSF jawans fought valiantly till the last bullet before losing their lives. Their sacrifice, however, prevented Pakistani troops from advancing further and ultimately denied them control of the strategic Dalu-Tura road.

Today, those present at the newly constructed memorial remembered the jawans’ sacrifice on that rainy morning 42 years ago.

“The war memorial is a constant reminder of the great sacrifices made by the brave soldiers of the BSF,” said the BSF director-general, adding that the names of the fallen heroes would “forever be engraved in gold”.

“They will be remembered as brave and dignified souls who sacrificed their lives. Today we look back at this shining moment in our history and are reminded of the special bonds that have tied our fate to that of Bangladesh,” Joshi said.

Speaking on behalf of his country’s frontier troops, Gen. Ahmed said the sacrifice of the jawans would not go in vain and the deep-rooted relations shared by both nations shall continue. “Bangladesh welcomes the initiative to honour the heroes of the liberation war,” he said.

Both officers placed wreaths at the memorial and later handed over mementos and cash awards to Tyagi and Maya Kalita. While she was handed a sum of Rs 50,000, a shawl and a memento, Tyagi was honoured with a memento and a shawl.