Infiltrators, smugglers taking advantage of unfenced borders with B’desh: Tripura CM

Agartala, July 13

Infiltrators from Bangladesh are trying to enter Tripura through the unfenced bordering areas or by cutting border fencing, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said on the floor of the Assembly on Thursday.

Replying to an urgent public importance notice, Saha, who also holds the Home portfolio, told the House that of the 856 km India-Bangladesh border with Tripura, 50 km patch could not be fenced due to various reasons, including objection by the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) and revering frontiers.

Smugglers and drug peddlers are also taking the same advantage to carry out their illegal trade through these unfenced frontiers, Saha said.

The Chief Minister said that 18 battalions of the Border Security Force (BSF) have been deployed along the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura and the state police in coordination with the BSF have been maintaining a strict vigil in the border villages thwart infiltration, smuggling, cross-border crimes and other illegal activities.

He said that since January 2021, 235 Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas have been detained in Tripura by the BSF and various other security forces for their illegal entry into India, and 35 cases have been registered in this regard.

The Chief Minister informed the legislators that the government is committed to secure the border against any illegal activities, including infiltration from Bangladesh and drug peddling.

“The government has been trying to further strengthen the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura so that all types of illegal cross-border activities could be checked,” Saha said.