Shangpliang urges border residents to remain alert
Shillong, Aug 6: Commandants of various battalions of the BSF have been deployed along the Meghalaya border with Bangladesh to check against possible illegal entry and smuggling activities in the light of the volatile situation leading to instability in the neighbouring country.
The head of the frontier, Inspector General of BSF Meghalaya, Harbax Singh Dhillon, on Tuesday stated that troops and field commanders are on high alert with senior officers and commandants dispatched to the border with instructions to be on mission mode.
Under normal circumstances, junior company commanders oversee deployment of troops along border outposts.
IG Dhillon said that civilian movement has been restricted along the Indo-Bangla border and all land custom stations and integrated check posts placed on high alert.
There is widespread anxiety that attacks on supporters of the now deposed Awami League government and persecution of minority communities could spark an exodus from that country into India.
The Meghalaya Frontier of the BSF is shouldered with the responsibility of protecting a long stretch of 444 km of the international border with Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, NPP spokesperson and former Mawsynram legislator Himalaya M Shangpliang on Tuesday urged border residents to remain vigilant in view of the current situation in the violence-hit Bangladesh.
Speaking to reporters, Shangpliang said that the recent development in Bangladesh has created a lot of concerns for the people living in the borders, particularly in Mawsynram constituency, where the border is very porous.
“My only appeal to every everyone residing in the border, particularly the Dorbar Shnong to constantly remain vision vigilant and to check any newcomers because this is the time when there is a lot of panic as people are being chased out of Bangladesh and trying to sneak into our borders,” he said.
Further, Shangpliang said that the violence in Bangladesh has to a great extent affected the livelihood activities of the border residents from both sides.
“I would like to say that perhaps this turmoil and unrest in Bangladesh recedes at the earliest, so that our people can also open the trade as it used to be along the border. We have a very important border haat in Balat which transacts lakhs and lakhs of rupees every year, every week. Therefore, I think, the earlier the unrest is brought under control, the better,” he added.
