By IANS
Agartala : At least a hundred Indian militants sheltered in camps inside Bangladesh have fled the country and surrendered before authorities here following a crackdown by the caretaker government in Dhaka.
"Bangladeshi security forces have stepped up their crackdown against militants from India's northeast, forcing them to sneak into Indian territory and later surrender before authorities here," said J.A. Khan, inspector general of the Border Security Force (BSF) at the Tripura frontier.
Most of the militants who had surrendered since the Bangladeshi offensive began late last year were from the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) and the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) of Meghalaya.
"Altogether 29 militants of different outfits surrendered before the BSF so far this year with arms and ammunition," Khan told journalists.
The rest of the rebels had surrendered before other police and civil authorities in Tripura.
The BSF have intensified vigil along Tripura's border with Bangladesh – 53 new border outposts are being set up and troopers are being provided with modern equipment.
A total of 15 BSF battalions, comprising 15,000 personnel, were being deployed along the 856 km border that Tripura shares with Bangladesh. About 75 percent of the border is fenced.