BADARPUR, June 9 – Illegal infiltration is still going on in the Barak Valley without any hindrance, admitted the retired Inspector General of BSF, Sanjay Singh of the Cachar-Mizoram Frontier Headquarter at a press conference recently at Masimpur Army camp.
Singh said that illegal infiltration has threatened the security of the region besides portending a grave future for the area.
The difficult terrain of the region, viz., the dense forests, hills, riverine areas, etc., have posed obstacles in the completion of barbed fencing in the region, he said admitting that in those places where the construction works of barbed wire fencing and border roads is going on, it is very slow.
Singh said that the infiltrators manage to cross the border by slipping away from the watchful eyes of the BSF personnel. New strategies must be drawn up to identify and nab the infiltrators, he said.
Appealing to the local people not to give support to the infiltrators, Singh cited the example of the Bangladeshi people, who when they catch hold of an Indian trying to enter their territory, designate him as an ‘illegal infiltrator’ and directly hand him over to the Bangladeshi Police for further action. But if a Bangladeshi manages to enter Indian territory by giving the BSF a slip, the villagers on this side of the border give him shelter and instigate him to create disturbance and untoward incidents in the locality. This tendency was unfortunate and cannot be tolerated, he said. Saying that the BSF personnel are doing their best in trying circumstances by guarding these inhospitable borders, Singh appealed to the people to cooperate with the force in guarding the nation’s frontiers.
Dwelling on his service career, Sanjay Singh said that after he joined the force in 1973, he served in various border areas of the country. With great humility, Singh mentioned that his greatest achievement was the uprooting of the camp of the most notorious terrorist group of Pakistan–the Hizbul Mujahideen– at Tikipura of Jammu & Kashmir. The camp was set up at a height of seven to eight thousand feet and the team led by himself successfully managed to accomplish their mission and killed the leader of the terrorist group.
Listing the achievements of the BSF since the year 2000 till, date, Singh mentioned that the force had recovered illegal goods worth Rs 1,33,91,501, 16 pistols, two AK-47 rifles, 843 live bullets, 4,320 bottles of Phensedyl cough syrup and arrested 134 anti-social persons besides confiscating huge quantities of intoxicating drugs.
Retired IG Sanjay Singh also informed that at present 46 BOPs are functioning in Cachar district and 26 in Mizoram. Another 91 BOPs will be set up in Cachar district soon, he said adding that a scheme of Rs 96 crore for the development of the BOPs has been sent to the Centre for early sanctioning. The Guwahati frontier of the BSF is also to start functioning from July 1 next, he informed.
The press meet was addressed among others by two DIGs of the BSF– RK Thapa and Wazed Ali.
