BSF stops ‘illegal’ bunker construction at Bangladesh border

BSF officials at Kolkata’s Eastern Command said they spotted the construction, initiated Friday night on Bangladesh’s side, during a patrol

India’s Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday halted Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) from constructing an “illegal bunker” within 150 meters of the international boundary, marking the second such intervention in two days as border tensions between the neighbours remains high.

Over the past month, BSF has observed BGB personnel constructing bunkers beyond the 150-yard limit and equipping their forces with lethal and non-lethal arms, officials said. (Representational image)

BSF officials at Kolkata’s Eastern Command said they spotted the construction, initiated Friday night on Bangladesh’s side, during a patrol. This follows Friday’s intervention when BSF stopped BGB from building a “sentry bunker” in the Dahagram Angarpota area along the North Bengal frontier.

“On February 1, a team of BSF sector Kishanganj observed some fortification work being carried out by Bangladesh nationals along the embankment of Kulik River within 150 yards of zero line,” a senior official said. The area falls under BGB’s Govindpur border outpost.

Following BSF’s objections during a flag meeting, BGB personnel agreed to halt construction. “Joint India-Bangladesh guidelines prohibit defence related constructions within 150 yards of International Boundary, but BGB continued such work despite existing guidelines,” the official added.

Over the past month, BSF has observed BGB personnel constructing bunkers beyond the 150-yard limit and equipping their forces with lethal and non-lethal arms, officials said. These constructions outside the restricted zone didn’t prompt objections.

The latest confrontation comes amid growing tensions between the two border forces since Bangladesh’s regime change last August. The situation escalated last month when Indian and Bangladeshi villagers clashed in Malda, North Bengal, over BSF’s attempts to construct a border fence, leading to stone-pelting incidents.

The border friction reflects broader challenges in bilateral relations since former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5 amid political turmoil. Under the previous government, many of India’s current construction projects had received approval, but the new administration under caretaker Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus has taken a different stance.

The border tensions began escalating in August when BGB started opposing BSF construction at multiple previously approved sites along the 4,156-kilometer shared border.

Recent months have seen confrontations involving local populations, allegations of crop theft, and social media propaganda, marking a shift from typical border management issues to community-level conflicts.