The drainage expansion work was being carried by the Border Security Force (BSF), sources said. “The work on drain cutting with the help of a JCB was going on at Chetnagaj village. Several children were present at the work site.
Suddenly, a huge mound of soil caved in, and four children got buried in it. Officials and BSF jawans present at the site rescued the children. When they were brought out, they were breathing but died on the way to the nearest local hospital,” a police officer said.
A BSF personnel, on the condition of anonymity, said: “We reached the spot after getting the information. I can’t say anything about how the incident happened. Arrangements were made to send the children to Chopra Dalua Health Center immediately, but they couldn’t be saved.”
The deceased children were identified as Golam Mustafa (5 years), Yusuf Ali (6 years), Mohammad Islam (5 years) and Taleb Ali (12 years).
Superintendent of Police (Islampur) Jobi Thomas said the work was being carried out in the presence of BSF and an investigation has been launched into the whole incident.
The incident took a political turn with the ruling TMC blaming BSF’s “negligence” for the death of the four children, and demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
“Four children have died because of BSF’s negligence… The four children fell while the BSF was using a JCB machine for drainage work. It is surprising that the BSF not only failed to notice that the children got buried, but they kept throwing soil over them,” TMC Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya alleged.
The TMC also alleged that the construction work was “illegal”, and done “without necessary sanctions from a competent authority”. “Is this the protection your force offers Union Home Minister Amit Shah? Gunning down civilians? Playing fast and loose with the lives of children? We give you two options: either apologise to the bereaved families or resign, “ the ruling TMC posted on X.
The BSF is, however, yet to issue a statement on the incident. Also, the TMC leaders took a dig at Governor Ananda Bose and asked him to visit the village in Chopra as well. “We appeal to the Governor, who went to Sandeshkhali today (Monday), to also visit Chopra. We have no problem with him visiting Sandeshkhali since it is Mamata Banerjee’s government, and she doesn’t believe in stopping anyone from going anywhere but since the Governor felt it important to visit Sandeshkhali, he should also go to Chopra,” Minister Bhattacharya said.