Dhaka (TIP): The Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) has deployed armed village defence volunteers at several locations along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal and Tripura amid growing tensions over undocumented migration, cross-border infiltration and alleged “push-back” operations, Border Security Force (BSF) personnel on the ground said.
According to BSF officials familiar with the developments, armed Bangladeshi villagers and members of auxiliary paramilitary units have been spotted at more than a dozen locations across border districts adjoining India. The move comes at a time when India has intensified action against undocumented migrants and increased fencing activity along vulnerable stretches of the international border.
Over the past week, BSF personnel stationed in different sectors of West Bengal and Tripura reported multiple sightings of Bangladeshi villagers assisting BGB personnel and monitoring border areas where fencing work has recently begun.
The sightings were primarily reported in Bangladesh’s border districts of Chapainawabganj, Thakurgaon and Dinajpur, which share long stretches of the border with West Bengal, mid-level BSF officers said.
Officials further confirmed that the Bangladesh home ministry has deployed personnel from Bangladesh Ansar and the Village Defence Party – a paramilitary volunteer force – at several locations to strengthen surveillance and prevent people from crossing back into Bangladesh illegally.
“Local villagers in both West Bengal and Tripura, along with BSF personnel on the ground, have spotted armed villagers who are doubling up as volunteers for the BGB,” a BSF officer said on condition of anonymity.
“The villagers on our side of the border were told by Bangladeshi citizens across the fence that training was conducted by the BGB before deployment. This appears linked to the ongoing crackdown on infiltrators, which has also led to hundreds of Bangladeshi nationals voluntarily attempting to return to Bangladesh. The BGB has trained villagers to guard the border round-the-clock in shifts and ensure even their own citizens do not re-enter illegally,” the officer added.
There was no official response from the BSF headquarters in New Delhi regarding the latest ground situation.
India shares a 4,096.7-km-long border with Bangladesh, of which West Bengal accounts for the longest stretch at 2,216.7 km. The BSF maintains at least 1,185 border outposts along the frontier. Officials estimate that every year between 1,500 and 2,000 undocumented migrants are apprehended while attempting to cross into India, often with the help of touts and through unfenced terrain.
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