Infiltration has ‘gone down substantially’ since Bangladesh government changed, says BSF chief

Border Security Force chief Daljit Singh Chaudhary said on Thursday that infiltration along India’s border with Bangladesh had “gone down substantially” since a political crisis led to a change of government in the neighbouring country in August, The Hindu reported.

Chaudhary said that the Border Guards Bangladesh had assisted the Indian forces in maintaining peace along the border throughout the crisis. Border Guards Bangladesh is the paramilitary force responsible for the neighbouring country’s border security.

Chaudhary held talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart between February 16 and February 20. These were the first director general-level talks between the two sides after the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh was ousted in August.

Hasina resigned as the prime minister and fled to India on August 5 after several weeks of widespread student-led protests against her Awami League government. She had been in power for 16 years.

Two days after her ouster, reports had said that the Border Security Force had stopped about 500 persons from Bangladesh from entering India through the bordering Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal.

India shares a 4,096 km-border with Bangladesh, the bordering states being West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.

At the meeting earlier this week, Chaudhary also said that the Border Security Force had raised the problem of attacks on its personnel.

“At times, taking advantage of night cover,…

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