BSF to sensitise troopers along India-Bangladesh border

BSF Director General D.K. Pathak has asked the commanders and top officials of the force to sensitise troopers and maintain close relations with people living near the India-Bangladesh border to prevent unwarranted incidents, an official said here Monday.

The Border Security Force (BSF) chief reviewed the security situation along the boundary during a meeting with top officials, sector and battalion commanders here Sunday. Pathak visited Tripura in the wake of recent incidents along the border.

BSF trooper Sandip Kumar, 28, and villager Ismail Mia, 70, were killed in a clash between the border guards and villagers along the boundary in Tripura. Eleven people were injured in the incident Friday night at Akhaurah check post on the outskirts of the state capital Agartala.

The Tripura government has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident.

"The BSF DG has asked the sector and battalion commanders to sensitise the jawans and other field officials to prevent recurrence of such incidents. Keeping close relations between the BSF and people would be the priority for the force," BSF Deputy Inspector General Bhaskar Rawat told IANS, citing the force chief.

Muslim organisations held protest rallies here Saturday over the incident. BSF's Inspector General of Tripura frontier B.N. Sharma has met the leaders of the Muslim organisations and assured them to take steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future.

BSF Deputy Commandant Jeevan Kumar was lynched by the Bangladeshi smugglers accompanied by the security personnel of that country a few years back while the official was patrolling along the Akhaurah check post.

Tripura shares a 856-km border with Bangladesh that is porous because it extends over densely forested mountains. Over 25 to 30 percent of the border is still unfenced.

Congested human habitations along both sides of the border often create security-related problems.