A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan was fatally struck by lightning while guarding an unfenced stretch of the India-Bangladesh border in Murshidabad's Jangipur subdivision amid severe thunderstorms late on Tuesday night.

The deceased, Vineet Kumar Dubey, 46, was the head constable of the 71 Battalion of the BSF. Hailing from Kannauj district in Uttar Pradesh, he was posted at the Babura Ghat Border Outpost (BOP) and was on active border patrol duty when the tragedy occurred.

According to BSF sources, on Tuesday night, Dubey had been deployed in the Mithipur area, close to the international border, when heavy rain, strong winds and frequent lightning strikes swept the district.

He was surveilling near the zero line under the open sky when lightning felled him. Other jawans rushed to his aid and brought him back to the camp at Mithipur before shifting him to Jangipur subdivisional hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Earlier on Tuesday, four people were killed by lightning and 15 more were injured near Murshidabad's Dhulian when they were crossing the river Ganga by boat.