Terrorists infiltrating into India through Bangladesh border: BSF

India’s Border Security Force (BSF) has claimed that Islamic militants are infiltrating into India through porous India-Bangladesh border.

“Possibilities of intrusion of Jihadi activists through the porous Indo-Bangla border cannot be ruled out,” IGP operation of the BSF Rajeev told bdnews24.com on Wednesday.

His statement assumes significance against the backdrop of Burdwan bomb blasts where two Jammat ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) activists were killed.

Following the October 2 bomb blasts, setting up of bases by Islamic terror groups like JMB in West Bengal and Assam came into light.

BSF said it was further investigating into this aspect.

“The issue of Bangladesh militants setting up camps in West Bengal and Assam is under investigation. It will be premature to speak about it now,” said BSF Director General DK Pathak.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently accused the BSF of “laxity” in controlling the intrusion of anti-national elements from across the border.

“The investigation will give the correct picture,” said Pathak.

Reports compiled by the BSF said that at least 3,000 to 4,000 infiltrators are arrested by it every year from along the 4,096 km stretch of India-Bangladesh border.

India’s five states share its border with Bangladesh (262 km with Assam, 856 km with Tripura, 18 km with Mizoram, 443 km with Meghalaya, and 2,217 km with West Bengal).

“We are getting cooperation from all other security agencies. We are getting cooperation from the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) as well,” said BSF IG Rajeev.

The BSF top brasses were interacting with the reporters on the sidelines of the force’s golden jubilee celebration.

Referring to the border fencing issue, Pathak said that 65 percent of the India-Bangladesh border had been fenced.

In order to protect the border where fencing is yet to come up or the terrain is challenging, the BSF is contemplating to use Motion Sensor Alarms and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for reconnaissance and early warning.

The BSF’s Air Units will see the introduction of 8 Mi-17 V5 helicopters to assist border management including anti-naxal operations while its Water Wing will see the induction of 3 new floating Border Outposts (BOPs) and 4 fast attack crafts that will boost maritime capabilities in the creek and Sunderban areas.

“In areas where there are difficulties in erecting barbed wire fencing, we are trying to have technical solution. We have already got indigenously developed technical solution and we will implement it very soon,” said Pathak.