Smuggling, infiltration up along border

Statesman News Service

MALDA, Jan. 27. — Despite security being tightened across the porous Indo-Bangladesh border, infiltration and smuggling continues in north and south Bengal, officials said today after registering several cases of infiltration and cattle smuggling here.

On the eve of Republic Day, Malda police arrested over 10 Bangladehsis on 25 January, who had crossed the border in search of a job in Malda.

Today BSF jawans intercepted a large herd of cattle in English Bazaar area, close to the border.

Prior to R-Day celebrations in South Dinajpur, the district administration had beefed up security along the Indo-Bangladesh border yesterday, after the arrest of a Kashmiri militant a few weeks ago, who had crossed the border several times in this region.

Just a day before Id, BSF had seized a large herd of cattle. In a separate incident in the same area, BSF had killed one Bangladeshi, who tried to sneak into Indian territory after cutting down the fencing near Peasbari border outpost area under English Bazaar police station.

On the other hand, on 22 January, acting on a tip-off, Murshidabad police arrested a 23-year-old Bangladeshi college student from a village in Murshidabad district who fled his home when Bangladesh police raided his house after a serial blasts in Bangladesh.

After thorough interrogation, Murshidabad police have received information that the Bangladeshi student, Md Obaidur Rahman, crossed the border to take refuge in a home of his distant relative in Murshidabad, fearing a raid by Bangladeshi police.

It may be worth noting that police has been searching for the head of the militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen in Bangladesh, who is the prime suspect in connection with the serial blasts.