Nearly 1,000 Bangladeshi nationals attempted to enter India through the international border at Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal on Friday, but most of them were pushed back by Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, security officials aware of the matter said.
Till late in the evening, around 900-950 Bangladeshi nationals were pushed back by personnel from BSF’s North Bengal frontier, but around 50-100 people refused to leave and insisted on staying at the border.
“Some 50-100 people are still there and refusing to leave. We are working with the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) to send them back home. The people there are shouting slogans to be let inside India,” a BSF officer said.
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BSF personnel are facing similar problems at many points along the Indo-Bangladesh border across the eastern frontier. “Villagers who live at the Bangladesh border are coming alone or in crowds of hundreds and attempting to enter the country. In the past few days, people in crowds of hundreds have come at the North Bengal frontier area while there are isolated cases of individuals in other places,” a senior BSF officer at the Delhi headquarters said, adding that those trying to infiltrate are a mix of both Hindu and Muslim communities.
On Wednesday, BSF personnel had to fire multiple rounds in the air to push back infiltrators at the border in North Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district.
{{/usCountry}}On Wednesday, BSF personnel had to fire multiple rounds in the air to push back infiltrators at the border in North Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district.
{{/usCountry}}Security forces are on the high alert amid political turmoil in Bangladesh following unprecedented violence and protests that toppled the Sheikh Hasina regime. Additional BSF personnel have been deployed at the border after the Centre informed the force about its “zero-infiltration” policy.