‘Nearly 500 tried to enter, 1 shot fired in air’ — BSF thwarts illegal border crossings from Bangladesh

A BSF official told ThePrint that attempts to enter India illegally were made at three border outposts in BSF’s North Bengal frontier, which shares a border with Bangladesh.

BSF jawans | Representational Image | Flickr

New Delhi: The Border Security Force (BSF) Wednesday dispersed nearly 500 individuals, presumably of Bangladeshi origin, from the border check posts, and stopped them from entering India illegally, ThePrint has learnt.

A BSF official, requesting anonymity, told ThePrint that attempts to enter India illegally were made at three border outposts in the BSF’s North Bengal frontier, which shares a border with Bangladesh.

These border outposts are ‘Shubhendu’ in Siliguri sector, and ‘Mukesh’ and ‘Moria Ghati’ in Kishanganj sector.

Illegal immigration attempts began after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s regime in Bangladesh. Owing to violent protests in the country, Hasina fled to India. Hindus, a minority in Bangladesh, are reportedly being attacked in certain districts of the country.

To prevent illegal immigration, the BSF has issued a ‘high alert’ along India’s border with Bangladesh, spanning 4,096 kilometres, ThePrint reported earlier.

Another BSF official explained to ThePrint that when a high alert is issued, senior BSF officials, who generally do not guard integrated check posts and other entry points, are deployed in those regions to increase vigil. Additionally, forces also erect new formations or modify pre-existing ones, depending on the nature of anticipated threats.

‘One shot fired’

Sources in the BSF said that at around 1.40 pm IST Wednesday, about 150 people gathered at the Mukesh outpost in an attempt to enter India. As a result, BSF personnel at the check post had to resort to firing to disperse them from the region.

“There was one shot fired in the air to show zero tolerance towards the breach of line of the BSF check post. This shot dispersed the crowd,” the first BSF official told ThePrint.

Also, about 40 people had assembled at Moria Ghati at around 6.15 pm IST.

Another BSF official told ThePrint that the most challenging situation arose at Shubhendu, where approximately 100 people assembled at around 1.45 pm IST. The number of people quickly increased to 300, creating fears of the situation getting worse.

Sources in the BSF said that with the assistance of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) — Bangladesh’s counterpart to the BSF — people were dispersed and persuaded to return to their country.

Indian political leaders have expressed concern over the possibility of the turmoil in Bangladesh impacting the eastern states of West Bengal and Assam.

BSF interim director general Daljit Singh Chaudhary was rushed to West Bengal to take charge of the situation and ensure preparedness of BSF troops on border check posts. Later, Wednesday he also went to Tripura which also shares land border with Bangladesh.

(Edited by Radifah Kabir)