By IANS
New Delhi : Infiltration along the India-Bangladesh border cannot be completely plugged since the frontier was porous, the head of the paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) said Thursday.
“We can’t completely control infiltration through the India-Bangladesh border as it is very much porous and many areas are not fenced because of geographical barriers,” BSF Director General A.K. Mitra said here.
“Since January, we have arrested 11 militants belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) on the India-Bangladesh border. The Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (HUJI) is among the key Bangladeshi outfits whose militants sneak through this border,” Mitra told reporters ahead of the BSF Raising Day Dec 1.
While the fencing has reduced the infiltration problem to a large extent, the border can still be breached, Mitra said.
India shares a 4,095.7 km border – 2,979 km on land and 1,116 km through rivers – with Bangladesh. The BSF has been able to fence only 66 percent of the land border.
“Only 277 km of the border area is covered under floodlights but most of the time we face trouble and crisis due to frequent electricity failures there. We want floodlights everywhere in the complete border area,” Mitra said, adding that a proposal regarding this was sent to the home ministry.
He said the BSF does not have a proper mechanism to find out whether a person caught illegally crossing the border is a militant or an innocent trespasser.
Mitra said most of the BSF units deployed in terrorism-hit Jammu and Kashmir were shifted to the eastern borders, which required more units because of its peculiarity and porosity.
Mitra said infiltration along the India-Pakistan border in Rajasthan and Punjab had come down drastically, but Jammu and Kashmir remained a hotbed of militancy.
“Militants are using ultra-modern equipment to observe the movement of security forces before making an attempt. They are also using more difficult routes. But at least 37 militants were neutralized in Jammu and Kashmir this year,” he said.
Mitra said the border states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Manipur in the northeast have witnessed a flurry of activities of insurgent groups.
“Manipur remained the most volatile state in the northeast due to the presence of a number of insurgent groups and mushrooming of approximately 20 tribal groups. Assam also remained in turmoil,” he said.
According to BSF figures, at least 700 people were arrested this year for trans-border crimes and narcotics worth Rs.1.65 billion was also seized. The force lost its two troopers and at least 43 officials were severely injured during the operations.