Staff Reporter:
The government has decided to equip the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) with sound grenade and tear gas canisters as their Indian counterparts used identical weaponries by now, Home Affairs Adviser Lt. Gen. (rtd) Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said yesterday.
“We have already given nod to purchase sound grenades and tear shells for the BGB,” he told re-porters in reply to a question after emerging from a meeting on law and order at his Bangladesh the Secretariat office here.
Asked what could be possible Indian reaction to the decision Chowdhury said there was no scope for India to take it “negatively” as their Border Security Force (BSF) already used identical wea-ponries on frontiers with Bangladesh.
The adviser said the BGB currently were equipped with lethal or mortal weapons to be used if or when the situation would dictate.
Asked if BGB was allowed to use the weapons to be procured he posed a counter question why the paramilitary force would not use them if required after purchasing the sound grenades and tear gas canisters.
The adviser, however, said the current border situation as stable.
“There is no big problem on the border,” he said as asked for comments on the issue.
According to weapon experts a sound grenade, also referred to as stun grenade or sound bomb, is a non-lethal explosive device used to temporarily disorient mobs or enemies with a very loud bang.
The tear gas on the other hand causes excessive tearing, burning, blurred vision in one’s eye, diffi-culty in wallowing in mouth and a choking sensation in the lung.
