Strict vigil in Northeast states along India-Bangladesh border
BSF officials said that border guards had been asked to stay vigilant, particularly on frontier areas with Bangladesh where police stations have been looted or prisoners have fled.
Security agencies tightened their vigil on the international border with Bangladesh, instructing shops in some places to close by 9pm, holding meetings with village heads of villages close to the border, and asking people not to move as freely as before, a day after Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina had to resign and flee to India to escape spiralling unrest.
Senior officials from agencies like the Border Security Force (BSF) and state police services rushed to various sensitive points on the 4,096-kilometre-long border that India shares with Bangladesh, cutting across 5 states, and said that personnel had all been told to stay on high alert.
BSF officials said that border guards had been asked to stay vigilant, particularly on frontier areas with Bangladesh where police stations have been looted or prisoners have fled. “There were reports of mobs looting weapons from police stations and prisoners fleeing from Sherpur jail in Bangladesh. Stopping infiltration or smuggling of weapons is a top priority,” an official at the Delhi headquarters said. To be sure, no incident of violence has been reported at any border village.
In south Bengal, BSF personnel on Tuesday held coordination meetings with officials of the state government and village heads. “The villagers were advised not to move freely in the border areas and on the International Border Road (IBR) at night. It was also decided that all shops in the market should be closed by 9pm and announcements will be made from mosques that villagers should stay away from the border areas,” a spokesperson said.
While there are additional layers of security along the vulnerable stretches of the border, senior officers are also visiting such spots and checking for operation preparedness. BSF chief Daljit Singh Chawdhary visited the Petrapole integrated checkpost on Tuesday, and will visit Tripura and Meghalaya over the next few days.
In Meghalaya, BSF Inspector General Harbax Singh Dhillon said that troops and field commanders are closely monitoring the international border, and commandants have been deployed at border posts. “All land customs stations and integrated check posts are on high alert and civilian movement has been restricted along the Indo-Bangladesh border,” the IG said.
The Meghalaya government had on Monday imposed a night curfew along the 443 kilometre border the state shares with Bangladesh. East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police, S Nongtnger said, “We have deployed adequate human resources to monitor the situation and support the central forces. In fact, there are officers of the rank of additional and deputy superintendent of police on the ground to monitor all measures.”
In Tripura, chief minister Manik Saha said that he had spoken to the state chief secretary, director general of police and representatives of the BSF to tighten border controls. “I am in constant touch with Delhi and have spoken to our chief secretary, DGP, BSF, Assam Rifles so that nobody can enter through the border. We shall work based on the instructions given by the Centre”, Saha said.
Officials from Assam, which shares a 265.5-kilometre-long border with Bangladesh — predominantly in Cachar and Karimganj — said that they had “temporarily sealed the border”.
“We keep a 24/7 vigil on the border areas but it has been strengthened multiple times now. We won’t allow spillover of violence from Bangladesh to India through this border,” an official said.
The sealing of the border— with trade at a standstill over the past two days — have also meant that trucks carrying goods have been left stranded near the International Land Port in Karimganj’s Sutarkandi, officials said.
