BSF intercepts 349 Bangladeshi immigrants

Shillong, Nov 30 (UNI) At least 349 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh has been intercepted by the BSF from the North East states on the Indo-Bangla border, within the last 11 months.

Deputy Inspector General of BSF V S Sikarwar today said that out of the 349 Bangladeshi illegal infiltrators, 223 of them had been handed over to the local police for legal action and 126 had been handed over to Bangladesh Rifles(BDR), since they were cases of inadvertent crossing.

He added that out of 223 Bangladeshis handed over to the police, most of them had been handed back by the state police and deported to Bangladesh through BSF and BDR flag meetings.

Mr Sikarwar said the Assam-Meghalaya frontier forces had also seized smuggled contraband goods worth more than Rs 12.84 crore (Rs 12,84,09,277), including seizure of forest produce worth 72.40 Lakh, (Rs 72,40,531) Narcotics items Worth 77.65 Lakh (Rs 77,65,014/-) and cattle worth Rs 6.88 Crore (Rs 6,88,73,300/-) from the Indo-Bangladesh border.

Troops of this frontier have also seized Fake Indian Currency Notes, which were being pumped into our country by miscreants from Bangladesh, he said.

A BSF spokesman said that in tackling insurgency problem in the state, the Assam-Meghalaya frontier had nabbed 10 militants in North Cachar Hills and Karbi Anglong Districts of Assam, adding that a large number of arms, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from them.

In order to contribute to the call of the nation in times of natural disasters, Mr Sirkarwar said the frontier has been allotted with one Disaster Management Battalion, which is presently based at Guwahati in Assam.

He said the Battalion is equipped with ultra modern Gadgetries and trained for rescuing victims of&tackling natural disasters, like earthquake, flood, cyclones, epidemics, biological, chemical&nuclear warfare, among others.

Incidentally, this Battalion, including Water Wing, based at Dhubri had contributed in the rescue and evacuation of flood-affected victims in Dhubri district and Barak valley in Assam during July and August 2007.

UNI