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BSF plans air surveillance |
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The BSF is readying for air surveillance to supplement ground patrolling of the porous international borders in the North-east that militants, infiltrators and smugglers breach more often than in any other part of the country. The additional director-general of the frontier force in the east, U.K. Bansal, told the media in Agartala that helicopters would whirr above the international borders regularly as a second line of defence.
He said barbed-wire fences had already brought down crime and the BSF was aiming to secure those stretches that were still vulnerable.
“Once the fencing project is complete, the entire stretch of the international border will be crime-free,” the official said.
Of the 856-km-long Indo-Bangladesh border in the state, as many as 641km have been fenced and work on a 151-km stretch is in progress.
“The rate of progress in fencing the border and constructing roads is the highest in Tripura among all the states of the Northeast,” Bansal said.
The BSF recently began using sniffer dogs for detection of bombs and explosives. “Since this has produced results, we will induct more sniffer dogs into our squad,” the additional director-general said.
He complimented the Left Front government for co-operating with BSF units deployed in Tripura.
“The state government has provided us with road connectivity, water supply and other amenities so that our officers and jawans can perform their duties effectively. I am sure this co-operation will continue.”
Asked what the BSF was doing to prevent the North-east’s militant groups from operating out of Bangladesh, Bansal said the frontier force had handed lists of rebel hideouts in that country to Bangladesh Rifles on several occasions.
“They often deny it and allege that anti-Bangladesh elements are finding shelter on our soil.”
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