The Border Security Force (BSF) has improved security on the Indo-Bangladesh Border (IBB) in West Bengal in light of regular attempts at infiltration, it claimed.
Five Bangladeshi nationals were 'chased away' from Indian territory in the districts of North 24-Parganas and Malda, an official said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, 13 Bangladeshi infiltrators were pushed back in these two districts, he said.
"Infiltration attempts have increased over the last few months. We are pushing back illegal Bangladeshi migrants almost on a daily basis. During interrogation, the Bangladeshis said that they were on their way to cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru to work as labourers and housekeeping staff. The situation gets extremely volatile at times. There are women among such groups and sometimes they date the BSF jawans to open fire on them. Our troops are observing extreme restraint and in case a Bangladeshi infiltrator refuses to turn back, they are handing him or her over to the police for necessary legal action," the official said.
According to another senior official of the BSF, as many as 40-45 Bangladeshis have been stopped from crossing over unfenced stretches of the IBB over the last five days.
The BSF also took up this matter and the importance of a Single Row Fence (SRF) to control cross-border crimes at the BSF-BGB Sector Commander's Border Coordination Meeting at Benapole, Bangladesh, on Wednesday. Bangladesh has been objecting to such fencing.
"The BSF has been scrupulously observing all the tenets of border management. On Wednesday, our jawans apprehended a Bangladeshi who had accidentally crossed the IBB. He was handed over to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) as a good will gesture. Efforts at smuggling cattle, banned cough syrup and other contraband have also increased. The criminals are not even shy of attacking our women constables. Under the circumstances, BSF troops are being forced to open fire in self-defence," added the official.
Around midnight on Thursday, an on-duty mahila jawan sighted smugglers moving towards IBB from the Indian side, who were approaching the border accompanied by cattle.
She challenged the miscreants and alerted her colleagues. She opened fire to two rounds into the air, which did not prove effective. She was encircled by armed smuggers equipped with lathi and knives.
Finally, she fired a round from her Pump Action Gun (PAG) at the smugglers. This forced them to disperse. A search of the area led to the recovery of two heads of cattle.
While Bangladesh has been crying foul over the death of Bangladeshi smugglers due to firing by the BSF, the Indian border guarding force has maintained that such action becomes necessary to save the lives of troops who maintain vigil along the IBB against all odds.
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