Rajnath Singh visits Bangladesh border, talks to enclave dwellers

Siliguri, March 31: A day after the NIA claimed that the terrorists involved in the Burdwan blast had conspired to overthrow the government in Bangladesh, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday visited the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal.

Visits to the border outposts in Cooch Behar district and the Tin Bigha corridor as well as the border enclaves were on the itinerary of Rajnath Singh during his two-day tour of the state.

He met enclave dwellers in Cooch Behar on Tuesday.

Rajnath is slated to hold talks with officers of the Border Security Force and the Border Guard Bangladesh at the Tin Bigha corridor.

The home minister would head to border outposts in the Sundarbans on Wednesday.

The meet assumes significance as the National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the October 2, 2014 Burdwan blast, claimed in its chargesheet that the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a proscribed terrorist organisation in Bangladesh, had conspired to overthrow the existing democratic government in the country.

After reaching Tin Bigha in a helicopter, Rajnath Singh headed towards an enclave in Balapukuri where he spoke with the locals.

The home minister's visit to the enclaves is significant as the Narendra Modi government is eager to ratify the Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh which entails swapping of adversely occupied border enclaves.

IANS