BSF steps up vigil; cracks down on illegal migrants, smuggling from Bangladesh

New Delhi [India], July 6 (ANI): The Border Security Force has intensified its operation against touts and trans-border criminals in order to clamp down on the influx of Bangladeshi nationals and smuggling of contraband items in the state of Tripura, BSF Inspector General, Patel Piyush Purushottam Das said.
During a press conference on Saturday, BSF IG informed that the manpower has been beefed up in the sensitive border outposts and a special operation has been launched to crack down on the network of touts and smugglers in the bordering areas.
He stated that BSF has a "zero tolerance policy" against all such activities and field commander have been briefed to launch intelligence based operations to nab the touts.
He further said that physical domination has been augmented with state of the art surveillance technology which includes AI enabled cameras and facial recognition tools.
"Gaps in border fencing are being plugged using improvised methods. Additional teams are being deployed in depth areas and special focus is being given to joint operations with state police and sister agencies and the results are already visible on ground," the release quoted the IG as saying.
"In the current calendar year, seizure of contraband worth Rs 29 crores has been made and 198 Bangladeshi nationals and 12 Rohingya Illegal Migrants (RIMs) were apprehended. A huge haul of narcotics and psychotropic drugs amounting to Rs 32 Crores has also taken place," he added.

The IG further said that in the recently concluded IG BSF- Regional Commander BGB talks from July 1-4 in Shillong, a dossier containing list of Bangladeshi touts and criminals was handed over to Border Guard Bangladesh, which has assured to take action against them as per the law of land.
Both the border guarding forces further agreed to identify vulnerable patches along the border and enhance the special coordinated patrols which is done jointly. A decision was also arrived to share the telephone numbers at field commander level to enable sharing of real time information, the release added.
BSF IG concluded by saying that this multi-dimensional approach will ensure a safe and secure border in the state of Tripura. (ANI)