By IANS,
Guwahati : Indian militants from the northeastern region holed up in camps in Bangladesh could flee that country to some neighbouring nations or even try entering India following security pressure on them, a top official said Friday.
“There is pressure on them (Indian militants in Bangladesh) and that pressure may bring them to India and at the same we are aware of probabilities of them going to other countries. The government of India is fully seized of the matter,” Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) M.L. Kumawat told journalists in the southern Assam town of Silchar after visiting the India-Bangladesh border.
Kumawat was on a two-day visit to the border areas along Assam.
“We are fully prepared to deal with the situation in the event of the militants from Bangladesh trying to enter India. We shall not allow them to enter India and would deal with such attempts very severely,” the BSF chief said.
India had on several occasions said there could be more than 100 camps belonging to northeastern rebel groups like the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in Bangladesh.
“The matter would be taken up by our external affairs minister who would be visiting Dhaka in a day or two,” Kumawat said.
The BSF chief said the 4,095-km-long India-Bangladesh border was not fully protected like the western border with Pakistan.
“It is not as fully fenced and electrified and the border roads are also not very good. So lots need to be done in terms of manpower and equipment in India’s eastern borders,” Kumawat said.
The BSF chief said 10,000 constables would be recruited in the next two months to enhance the troop strength of the frontier guards.
“Most of this recruitment would be done from the border areas as they would be in a better position to know the conditions and psychology of the border,” Kumawat said.
“We shall soon introduce new gadgets like thermal imagers so that night patrolling could be more effective.”