Bangladesh unrest: Meghalaya imposes night curfew along border

SHILLONG — The Meghalaya government on Monday imposed a night curfew along its 443-km-long border with Bangladesh and asked the Border Security Force (BSF) to further tighten security in the wake of the unprecedented unrest in the neighbouring country, officials said. 

A BSF spokesman also said that additional troopers have been deployed to intensify the vigil.

A Meghalaya Home Department official said that the state government has taken measures to prevent any spillover of the ongoing severe unrest in Bangladesh.

Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, who holds the home portfolio, held a meeting with Chief Secretary Donald Philips Wahlang, Director General of Police Idashisha Nongrang, and other officials on Monday evening and directed the Deputy Commissioners of all the bordering districts to impose a night curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. to within 200 metres inside Indian territory for an indefinite period.

The state government will take further necessary steps as the situation unfolds in Bangladesh.

The Deputy Chief Minister later said that the Centre would send more BSF forces to the bordering areas and the Meghalaya Police would provide necessary assistance to ensure peace along the international border.

A senior BSF official said that they are in close touch with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and both sides are sharing intelligence inputs.  

BSF deploys more troops along Indo-Bangla border as unrest escalates in B'desh

The Border Security Force (BSF) has increased the deployment of troops along the India-Bangladesh border besides sounding an alert in the frontier areas amid escalating unrest in the neighbouring nation.  

BSF Director General Daljit Singh Chaudhary was also on a tour of the India-Bangladesh border along West Bengal on Monday. Accompanied by Ravi Gandhi, additional director general, Eastern Command, and Maninder Pratap Singh, IG, South Bengal Frontier, Chaudhary inspected the defence and operational preparedness in the North 24-Parganas district and the Sundarbans.

"The DG, who is in charge of the SSB, took over additional charge of the BSF on Saturday and this is his first official visit to the India-Banglader border in West Bengal. In view of the situation in Bangladesh, the BSF has issued an alert with the IBB and the number of troops deployed along the border has been increased," said A.K. Arya, DIG and spokesperson, BSF, South Bengal Frontier.

Chaudhary was briefed about the situation in North 24 Parganas before he moved to the floating Border Outpost at the T-Junction in the Sundarbans.

He took stock of the situation there and instructed officers to maintain constant vigil.

The India-Bangladesh border in the Sundarbans, with its numerous creeks and mudflats, is extremely vulnerable to cross-border movement, particularly in small fishing boats.

The BSF has several speedboats to patrol the area, but infiltration attempts cannot be ruled out completely at the moment.

According to sources, thousands of Bangladeshis could try to cross over to India to escape the violence taking place in their country.

The India-Bangladesh border along North 24 Parganas is also porous with several riverine stretches where fencing has not been possible.

"As of now, no major activity has been spotted along the India-Bangladesh border. The incidents of violence seem to be taking place in and around Dhaka. However, vigil has been increased to prevent any untoward incident," an official said.

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