BSF on high alert along Indo-Bangladesh border

New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI) India's Border Security Force
(BSF) Wednesday went on high alert along the entire 4,095-km
Indo-Bangladesh border following a rebellion by soldiers of
Bangladesh Rifles in Dhaka.

"We are fully alert and informed. The situation at the
border is perfectly normal at this time," BSF Director General
M L Kumawat told PTI here.

Orders have been issued to top officials of the BSF in
the five states bordering Bangladesh -- West Bengal (2,216
km), Assam (262 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Mizoram (318 km) and
Tripura (856 km) to keep a close vigil along the boundary,
sources said.

Kumawat spoke to senior officers based in the eastern
sector including IGP (Assam and Meghalaya Frontier),
Prithviraj, and discussed the prevailing situation, reports
reaching here said.

The BSF DG, however, said, "There has been no additional
deployment of forces in the wake of today's development in the
neighbouring country."

The situation arising out of the rebellion prompted West
Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee to hold a
high-level meeting at Writers' Buildings, official sources in
Kolkata said.

Home Secretary of eastern state of West Bengal Ardhendu
Sen said in the state capital Kolkata that district
magistrates and police officers in border areas have been
asked to maintain a state of alertness.

A senior BSF official in Guwahati, capital of north-
eastern state of Assam said "Personnel of the force along the
border have been asked to maintain a close vigil. Strength of
forces in the border areas may be increased if needed."

He said the intelligence machinery has been activated
even though the rebellion in Dhaka is an internal problem of
Bangladesh.

BSF DIG A K Singh said in Agartala, capital of north-
eastern state of Tripura that all border outposts in Tripura
have been alerted and all commandants and assistant
commandants have been instructed to intensify patrolling.

"We have alerted the people living in border areas and
instructed officials that they should not in any way interfere
if clashes take place between the BDR and Bangladesh army as
it is their internal matter," he told PTI. PTI Team
PMR
NNNN