Locals of Bholahat upazila said when some 10 to 12 children of Chansikari village entered the no man's land near main pillar number 119 to collect mangoes early in the morning, Indian Border Security Force (BSF) of Kestapur camp shot at them, reports private news agency UNB from Chapainawabganj.

But the kids escaped unhurt and returned home safely.

Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) sources confirmed the incident and said the BSF men fired one round of bullet on the kids.

'UNFORTUNATE’
The BSF opening fire on a group of Bangladeshi children on Chapai-nawabganj border is unfortunate, BDR Director General Major General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury told the BBC radio last night.

"I think the BSF higher authorities will take action against those responsible for the incident," he added.

"We are trying to establish communication with the BSF high-ups to ease the situation… Both the BDR and BSF have to make efforts to restore normalcy on the border."

REAZ-SIKRI MEET
In Dhaka, Bangladesh Adviser for Foreign Affairs Reaz Rahman and Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Veena Sikri sat in an informal meeting yesterday in a bid to find a diplomatic means of blanketing the simmering border tension, reports BDNEWS.

During the meeting at the foreign ministry, sources said, both the sides talked on the recent border skirmishes and explained each other's position.

Quoting veteran CPI (M) leader Jyoti Basu, who observed that India should immediately initiate dialogue with Dhaka to resolve various bilateral problems, a top foreign ministry official said the notion proves that India's political leadership does not want any more border trouble.

BDR-BSF FLAG MEETING
A battalion level two-hour flag meeting between BDR and BSF was held yesterday at Naogaon border to defuse tension and restore peaceful atmosphere in the bordering area, reports BDNEWS from Naogaon.

The meeting began at 10:00am beside pillar number 258 at Agradigun border in Dhamraihat upazila of the northwestern district on BDR's invitation.

A range of border problems including smuggling was discussed in the meeting that continued until 12:15pm and both sides promised to maintain a peaceful atmosphere at the border. 28 Rifles Battalion Commander Lt Col Zahid Hasan led the Bangladeshi side and BSF 115 Battalion Commandant Lt Col Hazarika led the Indian one.

2 SENT OVER TO IDENTIFY BODIES
The BDR yesterday sent two people from frontier village Gopalpur to Bongaon on the Indian side of the border to identify bodies of the two Bangladeshi nationals shot dead by the BSF on Saturday, UNB reports from Jhenidah.

Sources said the move came after the BSF yesterday in a letter asked the BDR to send two people for identifying the dead bodies kept in the morgue of Bongaon.

Intruding BSF men gunned down Jahidur Rahman, 24, and Moktar, 20, of Gopalpur village while they were going out to their cropfield on Saturday morning.