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Dhaka attack aftermath: High alert sounded in 5 states on Indo-Bangla border
Security agencies across Kolkata have stepped up security in the wake of Friday’s terror attack in neighbouring Bangladesh that left 20 dead.
A high alert has been sounded on the Indo-Bangla border in the five states of West Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assama and Mizoram in the wake of the terror attack in Dhaka.
Security agencies across Kolkata have stepped up security in the wake of Friday’s terror attack in neighbouring Bangladesh that left 20 dead.
The National Investigative Agency (NIA), CID and state police officers have jointly decided to increase the security of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (Bangladesh) (JMB) members who are currently housed in jail in connection with the 2014 Khagragarh blast.
There are fears that the jailed members may have connections with Islamic State (IS) elements, who can try to snatch them up when they are produced in court.
Read: Bangladesh blames Pak’s ISI, homegrown militants for Dhaka terror attack
Security in establishments such as shopping malls and restaurants in Kolkata has been beefed up while vehicles at airports, railway stations and bus terminals have been put under special surveillance. The police have also been checking all traffic coming into the city.
Kolkata police have ordered the traffic department to maintain all CCTV cameras in perfect working condition.
The police in both coastal and border areas of the state have been asked up intensify surveillance and patrolling.
“Keeping in mind of Eid festival, the maximum number of BSF personnel and officers have already been posted on the border area. Apart from this, we have also stepped up our intelligence system and are in regular touch with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the state police,” said Sandeep Salunke, inspector general, BSF, South Bengal Frontier.
“The Indo-Bangladesh border area… is one of the highest densely populated areas on the border in the world,” he added.
Read: Dhaka cafe attackers’ photos out, minister says they are from rich families
Terrorists have, in the past, used the state as a safe haven for hideouts and transit, and the most glaring example was the NIA’s findings in the Khagragarh explosion of 2014.
In the charge sheet in submitted last September, the NIA described how JMB members set up extensive network in at least four districts of Bengal and made IEDs to try and overthrow the government of Bangladesh. The members conducted training in firearms and explosives, making IEDs, radicalisation programmes and organisational meetings, the agency said.
