Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) D.K. Pathak on Friday urged the troops stationed on border outposts along the India Bangladesh border to respect human rights and maintain good relations with the locals and the civil administration.
While reviewing the situation along the border in Bongaon sub division of the South Bengal frontier of the BSF, Mr Pathak also participated in the riverine patrolling along Ichamati, which serves as the international border.
Emphasising on controlling trans-border crimes such as cattle smuggling and illegal migration, the DG also stressed on the need to ensure the safety of the personnel deployed on the border.
Unlike the India-Pakistan border where the BSF has dealt with occasional heavy gunfire; on the India-Bangladesh border which runs over 4,000 km in States like West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Meghalaya, the troops have to deal with criminal elements operating on both sides of the border.
Earlier this month, a BSF constable was killed allegedly by cattle smugglers at the Khalsi border outpost of the BSF, which comes under Swaroopnagar police station of North 24 Parganas district. Two similar deaths of BSF personnel were reported along the India-Bangladesh border in 2013.
A press release by the BSF stated that IGs of the South Bengal and the North Bengal Frontiers of BSF on Thursday gave presentations on border management in their respective frontiers to the BSF DG.
