Petrapole, lndo-Pakistan border, May 16
Major Osman Choudhury, the commander of the south-west division of the Liberation Front in East Pakistan, admitted this afternoon that the East Pakistan Rifles and Bengali volunteers were raiding and killing the minority community of Bihari Muslims "because they are spies and have sided with West Pakistan".

Major Choudhury, of the East Pakistan Rifles, met journalists here on the Indo-Pakistan border. He said that Bihari Muslims, who are identified linguistically and ethnically with the West Pakistanis, had helped President Yahya's soldiers to massacre Bengalis. The Bengali officer was being questioned in the light of new reports and fears that a great number of the non-Bengali minority community, five million strong, have been killed in a wave of reprisals.

There was no question of a Bihari joining the liberation front, he said. "If we get a Bihari, we kill him. We are also raiding their houses and killing them.

"You have seen how the Army has massacred innocent children and women of Bengal. What do you think we should feel about collaborators ? "

We met the young officer a few feet from the deserted Pakistan customs post at Petropole, about 50 miles north-east of Calcutta. Indian troops from the paramilitary border security force have dug in with light machineguns a few yards away in Indian territory.

There are no Pakistan troops to be seen either in the distant fields or within sight of the customs post. A stray dog lies across the road and the green, red and gold flag of Bangla Desh flutters over the Pakistan post.

In spite of the Liberation Front's claims the its members control a large belt of territory adjoining the border, it is evident that the Pakistanis have pushed the volunteers over the border.

Major Choudhury denied reports that he had received arms and military assistance from India.

"We are using captured weapons", he said, pointing to a Chinese sub-machinegun. American weapons had also been captured.

"But more than anything, we need moral support from the great powers and the democratic countrtes", he said, " After all, we are fighting for democracy and yet nothing has been done by democratic countries to help us, I am bitterly disappointed with Great Britain.

"She is the mother of democracy but the Government of today says that the fight for democracy here is an internal affair. If the great powers want to help, they should apply economic pressure on the West Pakistanis.

"After all, we were forced into this war. Shaikh Mujibur Rahman had won a clear majority and I can assure you there was no coordination between the East Pakistan Rifles and our politicians. We had no intention of fighting. We only took up arms on the night of March 25 when we heard that the Army was butchering our people arid destroying Dacca."

India warns Pakistan. Page 6