Tag: BSF

  • BSF helps villagers across border give final farewell to kin

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA:  Going beyond the call of duty, BSF personnel posted in Malda district made arrangements for Bangladeshi nationals to pay their respect to a relative on the Indian side, who died of ailments two days ago.

    The body of Abdul Khaleque (55) was brought near the zero line for a handful of relatives from Bangladesh to bid a final good bye. “After Khaleque’s death, his family members living in Keshtopur village under English Bazar police station area requested our 44th battalion of the BSF posted in the area.

    They told us that some of their relatives live on the other side of the border in Bangladesh and want to see the mortal remains of before the last rites are conducted. The commandant accepted the request,” said a senior police officer.

    The family approached the commandant through the local panchayat Pradhan. “The commandant contacted the head of the battalion and he was given a nod. Khaleque’s family members were told to inform their relatives in Bangladesh and asked to bring them near the zero line of the border,” said the BSF officer.

    After getting nod from the commandant head, a message was delivered to Border Guard Bangladesh. Khaleque’s body was kept near Zero Line for 15 minutes from 10 pm.  Mehtab Mondal, a villager of Keshtopur, said the wish of Khaleque’s relatives could be fulfilled only because of the BSF’s effort. “I was also present there. Escorted by the personnel of Bangladesh Border Guard, the relatives from Bangladesh came and perform their last rites. We witnessed the BSF’s good gesture to fulfil the wish of Khaleque’s relatives living in India and Bangladesh,” he said.

    A senior BSF official said the force organised various drives to develop cordial relations with the local residents. “On many occasions, we transported patients to hospitals and extended helps to students This is part of our job so that we can take local people into confidence and receive information from them about crimes taking place in the border area,” said another BSF official.

  • BSF helps Bangladeshi relatives bid adieu to Indian woman who died

    By PTI

    KRISHNAGANJ: The family of Ila Mandal, who died at a border village in West Bengal’s Nadia district, wanted her relatives on the other side of the barbed wires to see her for a last time.

    Her dying wish was fulfilled as BSF arranged to take the body to the Zero Point on the border where her relatives from Bangladesh were waiting for a last glimpse of the 70-year-old woman.

    Mandal, a resident of Matiari village in Krishnaganj police station area, died on Thursday.

    Many of her relatives live in Chuadanga on the other side of the border in Bangladesh.

    Mandal’s family reached out to the border force, requesting permission so that their Bangladeshi relatives manage to pay homage to her body before it is cremated.

    The BSF soon got in touch with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), which arranged for the relatives to visit the Zero Point.

    The BSF helped the family in bringing the body to the spot where they paid their last respect.

    “Besides guarding the border, BSF also stays with the people in their pain and pleasure,” said Desh Raj Singh, the BSF commanding officer of the area.

    Tens of thousands of families were split when India was partitioned in 1947, leading to the creation of East Pakistan — which subsequently became Bangladesh.

    West Bengal shares a 2,217-km-long border with Bangladesh, besides language, culture and culinary habits.

  • Cattle smugglers shift base to Northeast

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Cattle-smuggling rackets along India’s eastern borders, which were active in the south and north Bengal sectors between 2011 and 2019, have ‘shifted base’ to parts of Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura over the last three years. 

    While BSF sources in Delhi and Bengal expressed “satisfaction” over the status of cattle smuggling in Bengal, the “profitable enterprise” in the three northeastern states will form one of the core issues that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be briefed on during his two-day visit to inaugurate a new BOP (border outpost) in Bengal.

    BSF reports from the Bengal and Assam-Meghalaya-Tripura sectors indicate that the “efficient” cattle smuggling networks prevalent in “cattle-originating” states in northern, central and western India likely effected the shift when “business dwindled” in West Bengal due to effective “local” measures by the central border guarding force. 

    “The networks in states such as UP, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Bihar, Uttarakhand and, principally, Bengal have simply activated the resources in the three northeastern states,” a senior BSF officer in Delhi said. This was a direct consequence of the arrest of a BSF commandant Jiju Mathew and administrative action against other senior BSF officers, including two inspectors-general and an additional IGs, in 2019 when they were investigated for their nexus with cattle smuggling rings.

    Jowai in Meghalaya and Sitai and Sitalkuchi in Bengal’s Coochbehar (technically in the BSF’s Assam frontier), are the points from where cattle in large numbers are pushed into Bangladesh. In Jowai, for instance, a truck-full of cattle carries a “price tag” of Rs 5.25 lakh, a BSF officer said.

    Cattle seizure data related to the BSF’s eastern (Bengal) sector shows a downward trend.  However, according to a BSF report for the Jowai sector in Meghalaya, in February 2022, 550 cattle heads crossed into Bangladesh, followed in March 2022 by 970, 1,275 in April 2022 and 77 upto May 4 this year.

    Likewise in Dhubri in Assam, 75, 125 and 161 pieces of cattle were smuggled into Bangladesh by rustlers in February, March and April of 2022, respectively. Cattle smuggling also went up in Tripura. Expanding the BSF’s jurisdictional operating area depth in the border states to 50 km depth, which was previously 15 km, also contributed significantly to curb cattle smuggling. 

  • ED arrests former BSF commandant in cattle smuggling case

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has arrested Satish Kumar, former commandant, 36-Battalion of Border Security Force (BSF) in a money laundering case related to cattle smuggling at the Indo-Bangladesh International Border. He had received Proceeds of Crime (POC) of Rs 12.8 crores from Mohammed Enamul Haque, the alleged kingpin of a cattle smuggling racket running across the border, in the accounts of his wife and his father in law.

    This Proceeds of Crime were further laundered by purchasing immovable properties and Mutual Funds. He was produced before a city court in the national capital on Saturday and he has been remanded to ED custody for three days.

    This is the second arrest in this matter. Earlier, Haque was in February and currently, he is in judicial custody. One prosecution complaint was filed in this case on April 16 before a Delhi court.

    The court took the cognizance of the complaint. In the complaint, three –Haque, two brothers– Vinay and Vikas Mishra and three companies related to these individuals namely Hoque Industries Pvt Ltd, Hoque Mercantile Pvt Ltd and Anant Tradecom Pvt Ltd have been arrayed as accused. Vinay is former Trinamool Congress youth wing leader.

    ED initiated money-laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered in September 2020 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Satish Kumar, Haque, Mohammed Anarul SK, Mohammed Golam Mustafa and other officials of BSF and Indian Customs.

    The total proceeds of crime related to the complaint filed is Rs 25 Crore in this case.

    “During the course of investigation in this PMLA case, 24 searches have been conducted so far. Till date properties worth more than 18.5 Crore have been attached in this case. Further, investigation in the case is in progress,” said the ED.

  • BSF recovers arms, ammunition near Indo-Pak border in Jammu; troops on alert 

    By PTI

    JAMMU: The Border Security Force (BSF) Thursday recovered a cache of arms and ammunition during a special search operation (SSO) along the International Border (IB) in Jammu, officials said.

    They said the SSO was launched as there were intelligence inputs about Pakistan-based terrorists attempting to smuggle weapons into the Indian territory.

    The troops were on high alert following the adverse inputs and were regularly patrolling the areas near the three-tier border fencing along the IB, they said.

    The SSO was launched on the zero-line ahead of the fence along the IB in sub-sector Pargwal of Akhnoor during which a bag full of weapons and ammunition was recovered, they said.

    The recoveries include one AK-47 rifle, 20 rounds of AK-47 rifle, two magazines, two made-in-Italy pistols, 40 rounds of pistol and four pistol magazines, they said, adding the troops averted a major tragedy by ensuring the consignment smuggled from Pakistan did not enter India.

    Talking to reporters, BSF DIG S K Singh said the troops once again exposed the evil designs of Pakistan-based terrorists and made a big dent on their nefarious activities.

    He further said the BSF is on high alert all the time and committed to secure the International Border.

  • Centre mulls psychological evaluation of CAPF assistant commandant candidates

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The central government is mulling psychological evaluation of candidates for the post of assistant commandant in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), according to sources in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The proposal comes amid an increase in incidents of suicides and fratricides in the CAPFs. 

    A senior MHA official said the current syllabus and pattern of examination is being studied and the Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) has been roped in to help design a blueprint to assess the psychological abilities of the candidates. The official added that the syllabus and pattern of the examination has remained untouched for around two decades.

    Besides introducing ways to assess the psychological well-being of the candidate, the ministry is also considering to analyze the technical and cyber knowledge of the candidates. In the current examination, there is not much emphasis on cyber and digital knowledge but insurgent-affected areas like Kashmir and Northeast and Naxal-affected areas require one to have a fair cyber knowledge, an official said. 

    The CAPFs comprise the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial  Security Force (CISF), National Security Guard (NSG),  Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). 

  • BSF hands over man to Pakistani Rangers after he inadvertently crosses into India

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: A Pakistani man who inadvertently crossed the international border was on Saturday handed over to security personnel of that country by the BSF.

    The man, identified as Gumano, a resident of Undher in Tharparkar district of Sindh in Pakistan, had left his home after a quarrel with his kin, the BSF Gujarat Frontier said in a statement.

    “He was handed over to the Pak Rangers as a goodwill gesture. He is epileptic and belongs to a poor family and has ten siblings. He inadvertently crossed the international border in the intervening night of February 9 and 10, and reached Kuda-Chapariya link road where he was apprehended by troops of 56 Bn BSF,” it said.

    The man was in a dehydrated state, and BSF troops provided him food and water, it said, adding that he was handed over after a series of flag meetings.

    A similar handover of a Pakistan national was done on January 5 this year as well, BSF officials said.

  • BSF fires at Pakistan drone, foils drugs, weapon smuggling bid in Punjab

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Border Security Force (BSF) on Wednesday claimed to have foiled a narcotics and weapon smuggling bid by a drone along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab.

    A senior official of the force said troops fired at the drone after they heard a “buzzing sound of a suspected flying object coming from the Pakistani side to the Indian side” around 1 am in the Panjgrain area of Gurdaspur sector.

    “During search in the area of village Ghaggar and Singhoke, two packets of yellow colour with suspected contraband have been recovered so far,” the senior officer said. It is suspected that the drone dropped the packets, he added.

    A pistol was also seen wrapped in the packet, and the consignment was found in the field about 2.7 km from the fence, the officer said.

    A search is on to find if the drone too was downed or if it escaped, he added.

  • WATCH| BSF, Pakistan Army exchange sweets and greetings at Wagah border on 73rd Republic Day

    By ANI

    AMRITSAR: In a goodwill gesture, Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistan Army exchanged sweets and greetings at the Attari-Wagah border on India’s 73rd Republic Day on Wednesday.

    #WATCH Border Security Force & Pakistan Rangers exchange sweets and greetings at JCP Attari on India’s 73rd Republic Day pic.twitter.com/nTD23Wf937
    — ANI (@ANI) January 26, 2022
    The officials of the BSF and Pak Rangers exchanged sweets and pleasantries.

    The exchange of sweets was suspended in the last two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic whereas earlier in 2018, the BSF skipped the tradition on January 26 over growing incidents of ceasefire violations across the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border.

    Even in 2019, both border guarding forces of India and Pakistan did not exchange sweets and greetings on the occasion of Eid along the Attari-Wagah border as the Pakistan chose to skip the friendlier gesture at the border after the special status give to Jammu and Kashmir was revoked

    Similarly, after the surgical strike in October 2016, the BSF did not offer sweets to Pakistan Rangers. Because of the Covid pandemic, the flag lowering ceremony or Beating Retreat border ceremony have been suspended at Attari-Wagah border.

    Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to the fallen soldiers at the newly built National War Memorial (NWM) today morning in New Delhi, prior to participating in the 73rd Republic Day celebrations.

    Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, MoS Defence Ajay Bhatt, Defence Secretary, Ajay Kumar, and the Chiefs of the Indian Armed Forces, i.e, Army, Air Force, and Navy, were also present on this occasion.

    The Inter services Guards was formed by 7 Soldiers from each service. This year, the guards were commanded by a Naval Officer, Lt Cdr Amit Kumar Rathi. The Contingent commander was Sqn Ldr Akash Gangas.

    When the Prime Minister laid the wreath, the Inter services guards presented ‘Salami Shastra’ followed by ‘Shok Shastra’. Simultaneously, the buglers sounded the ‘Last Post’. Later, PM Modi and other dignitaries will head to the saluting dais at Rajpath to witness the Republic Day parade.

    The celebrations this year are special as Republic Day falls in the 75th year of Independence, being celebrated as ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ across the country. To mark the occasion, the Ministry of Defence has conceptualized a series of new events during the main parade on Rajpath on January 26 and the ‘Beating the Retreat’ ceremony at Vijay Chowk on January 29.

    It has been decided that the Republic Day celebrations will now be week-long from January 23-30 every year. This year, the celebrations commenced on January 23, the birth anniversary of great freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and culminate on January, 30 which is observed as Martyrs’ Day.

    (With inputs from IANS)

  • Bangladeshi man killed in BSF firing during border smuggling bid in West Bengal

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A Bangladeshi national was killed on Wednesday when BSF personnel fired to thwart a narcotics smuggling bid along the International Border in West Bengal, a senior officer said.

    The incident took place about 1.2 km inside the Indian territory at around 1:40 am near border post Nawada in Malda district of the state.

    A Border Security Force (BSF) officer said the “miscreants (comprising both Indian and Bangladeshi smugglers) encircled our jawans and attacked them with dah (large knife), bamboo sticks and stones”.

    “The jawans tried to disperse them and fired stun grenades but the miscreants continued with their aggressive gesture and act,” the officer said.

    Subsequently, he said, the troops fired two bullet rounds “in self defence”.

    A Bangladeshi man, who was shot at, was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead.

    The killed Bangladeshi national is a resident of Dhoolipara, which is about six km from the International Border.

    A mobile phone, two iron ‘dahs’ and 197 bottles of Phensedyl cough syrup were seized from the spot.