On the eve of the 57th raising day of the Border Security Force (BSF) which is one of the elite para-military forces in India, news has emerged that by 2022, India will try to complete the border fencing work in most parts between the north-eastern states and Bangladesh and fortify the security along the international frontiers, the BSF officials said on Tuesday.
The smuggling of narcotics, cattle, and various other contraband, apart from terror infiltrations are still going on along the India-Bangladesh borders, and after the BSF got the mandate to search and seize suspects and suspected vehicles 50km from the international border to a large extent, there has been a reduction on such activities.
As per Tripura frontier Inspector General Susanta Kumar Nath out of the state’s 856 km border with Bangladesh, 67 km of patches still remained unfenced due to various reasons, however, these gaps will be fenced by next year. Four north-eastern states — Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Mizoram (318 km), and Assam (263 km), share a 1,880-km border with Bangladesh.
As per data released by the BSF, the Tripura frontier has apprehended 208 intruders attempting an illegal crossing of the international border which includes 115 Indian Nationals and 93 Bangladeshi against the 131 intruders (85 Indians and 46 Bangladeshis) arrested last year and IG Nath said, drugs and contrabands worth around Rs 13 crore have been seized this year.
In Meghalaya, fencing on a 72.2 km stretch in the Khasi Hills region is yet to start due to various reasons including land acquisition issues and riverine problems. According to BSF Meghalaya Frontier Principal Staff Officer D. Haokip the state shares 444.8 km-long international border with Bangladesh.
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