BSF on high alert along India-B'desh border amidst tensed situation

Guwahati, Dec 15: The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel deployed along the 4,000-km international border with Bangladesh have been kept on high alert because of the disturbed situation in the neighbouring country. BSF sources told The Assam Tribune that their personnel have not lowered their guards and revealed that additional deployment has also been made, while patrolling has also been intensified in the vulnerable stretches of the international border.

Though the relations of the present caretaker government in Bangladesh have turned sour with India of late, the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) have been maintaining a cordial relationship with the BSF. Sources said the BGB officials are in regular touch with their BSF counterparts, and the border-guarding forces of both countries are also carrying out coordinated patrolling.

Sources said senior officers of the BSF are also frequently visiting the border areas to ensure that the security never becomes lax. The riverine international border is always considered vulnerable because of the lack of any physical barrier, and that is why extra boats have been pressed into service for regular patrolling, while technological solutions are also being used to guard the border. When pointed out that a few Bangladeshi nationals were arrested recently in Guwahati when they were trying to fan out to other parts of the country after entering India through the international border along Tripura, sources said, "The possibility of infiltration of one or two persons cannot be ruled out. However, there is no large-scale influx."

Additional Director General in charge of the Eastern Region of the BSF, Ravi Gandhi, will also visit Tripura soon to review the situation on the ground, sources added.

Sources said that when the trouble broke out in Bangladesh, there were attempts at large-scale influx, which were thwarted by the BSF. "But now the situation along the border is well under control," apprehension of large-scale sources said.

It may be mentioned that because of the situation in Bangladesh and attacks on people belonging to minority communities, there is infiltration to India. On the other hand, several leaders of the Islamic terrorist groups are also out of jail, which has added to India's concerns.

By

R Dutta Choudhury