With illegal immigration from Bangladesh continuing and a recent spurt in infiltration being witnessed along the border in Tripura, Chief Minister Manik Saha on Thursday held a meeting with top Border Security Force (BSF) officials.

The chief minister asked border forces to maintain a tight vigil across the border and to take strict action against those involved, reports Indian Express.

Sheikh Hasina sent Rangpur’s Haribhanga mango, hilsa, and rasogolla as a gift to the chief minister of Tripura state in last week of June. The mango diplopacy of Hasina has faced set back with the recent stance of Manik Saha.

“Saha 'expressed concern' over the recent rise in infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals into India and directed officials to take appropriate action against those involved in providing shelter and facilitating illegal border crossings,” said a statement issued by the BSF sector headquarters at Salbagan on the outskirts of Agartala.

On his part, SK Sinha, BSF Deputy Inspector General (DIG), apprised Saha about manpower issues and said that troop availability was affected due to the Lok Sabha elections and the deployment of BSF troops in Manipur. However, SK Sinha assured that the border security agency would make concerted efforts to yield positive results by identifying and taking action against touts facilitating infiltration.

He also informed that the BSF is in the process of installing electronic gadgets for border surveillance at vulnerable patches along the Indo-Bangla international border in Tripura.

JK Sinha, Chief Secretary, Anurag, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), and other officials were also present at the meeting. In the last few weeks, several Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingya were arrested at Agartala railway station and different parts of Tripura while trying to board trains or vehicles out of the state.

Over 30 Bangladeshi nationals were arrested at Agartala railway station itself in the last four days. A series of arrests of drug peddlers, gun runners and human traffickers at railway station has led authorities to suspect that being used as a corridor for trafficking. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested several Tripura youths in connection with a case registered at Guwahati last year for involvement in human trafficking of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingya into India through the state; the previous such arrest was on June 16 this year.

The BSF said in a report earlier this year that it arrested 744 people illegally crossing the international border in 2023, including 112 illegal Rohingya migrants, 337 Bangladeshi nationals and 295 Indians in different operations. In 2022, the BSF had detained 369 people, including 59 Rohingya and 160 Indian and 150 Bangladeshi nationals along the 856 km-long International Border with Bangladesh.