Bangladeshi Smugglers Attack BSF in Tripura, make failed attempt to snatch weapons
A group of cross-border smugglers on Tuesday tried to attack a team of on-duty Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and attempted to snatch the weapons of the jawans near northern Tripura, but the bordering guarding force thwarted the daring move, officials said.
Significantly, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) assisted the BSF in dispersing the smugglers.
Officials said that a team of BSF jawans on duty near the India-Bangladesh border under Magroli gram panchayat in Unakoti district came under attack from a group of 15-20 Bangladeshi smugglers.
“Alert BSF troops in the area tried to intercept a group of Bangladeshi smugglers while they were trying to smuggle various contraband items. Upon being ordered to halt, the smugglers tried to lash out at the BSF jawans with sharp weapons and tried to snatch the jawans' arms and ammunition and abused the security personnel in filthy language,” the official said.
He added that amidst the confrontation between BSF jawans and smugglers, some Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel from the other side came near the border fence and assisted the Indian forces by putting up a collective effort to thwart the smugglers and helped the BSF jawans amidst the commotion.
After additional BSF troops arrived at the spot, the smugglers managed to flee. The official said that the BSF and BGB personnel were found to have exercised significant restraint by not shooting at the smugglers.
Tripura, which is surrounded by Bangladesh on three sides, shares an 856-km-long international border, parts of which are still unfenced in patches due to local disputes on land and demarcation-related issues.
After the unrest began in Bangladesh in July, especially after the fall of the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government on August 5, the infiltration into India's northeastern states increased to a large extent forcing the BSF to strengthen the vigil along the international border.
A BSF spokesperson said that after the Bangladesh unrest began in June-July, the border guarding force has intensified its domination and operations along the 856-km India-Bangladesh border in Tripura to prevent infiltration, exfiltration, and trans-border crimes including smuggling of contraband.
The BSF, on a number of occasions, foiled several infiltration attempts by hundreds of Bangladeshi nationals comprising both Hindus and Muslims.
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