27 October 2004	Wednesday	12 Ramazan 1425

DHAKA, Oct 26: Bangladeshi and Indian troops exchanged gunshots across the Panchagarh frontier on Tuesday after an abortive attempt by the Border Security Force of India to push Bangla-speaking people across the border at gunpoint.

Quoting officials and witnesses, the BSS news agency reported that the gun battle began as the BSF tried to push the Indian nationals across the border under the cover of indiscriminate fire, which immediately faced stiff resistance from the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) at different points on the Panchagarh border.

The BSF fired nearly 4,000 bullets while the BDR responded with several hundred gunshots, BDR officials said and added that an hour-long flag meeting between the forces failed to defuse tensions as the Indian side did not cooperate.