Over the past ten years, India’s Border Security Force (BSF) has allegedly killed 36 Bangladeshi nationals along the Maheshpur border in Jhenaidah district through shootings and torture following abductions. The report states that more than a hundred others were injured in assaults by BSF personnel. The Maheshpur border, stretching 72 kilometers, includes 60 kilometers of barbed wire fencing and 12 kilometers of open frontier adjoining India’s Nadia and North 24 Parganas districts in West Bengal.

According to the investigation, most casualties occurred near BSF camps in Indian areas opposite Baghdanga, Shyamkur, and other Bangladeshi border unions. The killings have turned the Maheshpur frontier into what locals describe as a “valley of death.” The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) established its 58th battalion camp in Maheshpur in 2015 to improve surveillance and reduce cross-border crimes. BGB sources claim that killings have decreased somewhat since the camp’s establishment.

BGB officials said awareness programs are ongoing to prevent illegal crossings and smuggling, while protests against BSF actions are raised during bilateral flag meetings. Families of victims allege BSF hostility and fear cultivating land near the border.