AIZAWL: An 80-year-old pastor from Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh died inside a jungle inside the neighbouring country, reportedly due to starvation, after he and other people were not allowed by the BSF to enter south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district and take shelter, Parva village leaders said.
Pastor Chhawnkhupa of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Bangladesh died inside a jungle in the neighbouring country around 8.20 pm on Wednesday at a place about 7 hours walk from Simeinasora, the nearest village in Lawngtlai district from the Bangladesh border.
The village leaders said some state police and BSF officials and volunteers left Parva-III village around midday on Thursday and proceeded towards the place where the pastor died.
According to the initial plan, Chhawnkhupa’s body was to be taken to his relatives at Khawmawi village in Lunglei district where the funeral would be held, the village leaders said.
However, the plan was changed and the pastor’s body will now be taken to Chheihkhiang, his native village in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, where he would be buried.
Gospela said the pastor was among 164 people from the Chittagong Hill Tracts who were denied entry into Mizoram by the BSF in December and who had no choice but to remain in the jungles inside Bangladesh without proper food. Lawngtlai district SP C Lalruatkima said the cause of death of the priest could not be ascertained at present even as local people believed that he starved to death.
Meanwhile, the central committee of the Young Mizo Association (YMA), the apex body of the Mizos, on Thursday expressed profound shock over the death of Pastor Chhawnkhupa and hoped that such incidents do not recur in the future.
Pastor Chhawnkhupa of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Bangladesh died inside a jungle in the neighbouring country around 8.20 pm on Wednesday at a place about 7 hours walk from Simeinasora, the nearest village in Lawngtlai district from the Bangladesh border.
The village leaders said some state police and BSF officials and volunteers left Parva-III village around midday on Thursday and proceeded towards the place where the pastor died.
According to the initial plan, Chhawnkhupa’s body was to be taken to his relatives at Khawmawi village in Lunglei district where the funeral would be held, the village leaders said.
However, the plan was changed and the pastor’s body will now be taken to Chheihkhiang, his native village in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, where he would be buried.
Gospela said the pastor was among 164 people from the Chittagong Hill Tracts who were denied entry into Mizoram by the BSF in December and who had no choice but to remain in the jungles inside Bangladesh without proper food. Lawngtlai district SP C Lalruatkima said the cause of death of the priest could not be ascertained at present even as local people believed that he starved to death.
Meanwhile, the central committee of the Young Mizo Association (YMA), the apex body of the Mizos, on Thursday expressed profound shock over the death of Pastor Chhawnkhupa and hoped that such incidents do not recur in the future.
