Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee put the district officials on “alert notice” to check trans-border infiltration gooey times.
Chairing a high-level administrative meeting in North Bengal the Chief Minister directed the District Magistrates and Superintendants of Police to “keep your eyes and ears open to the things taking place around you.”
Banerjee said that “Though the Border Security Force had been deployed to check infiltration it is necessary that our officials including the State police should also remain vigilant all the time. There is no scope for laxness, the DMs and SPs should keep their eyes and ears open, as there are reports of people coming to Bengal from neighbouring States like Bihar and Assam too.”
The Chief Minister asked people not to hand over their documents to anyone or allow any unknown person in their houses without checking their documents. “No person should be allowed without checking his documents,” the Chief Minister reportedly told the officials.
Reminding that North Bengal was a “highly sensitive place considering its geographical position with “we share our border with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh besides we have two states of Bihar and Assam. So the police administration should constantly remain vigilant,” the Chief Minister who was on the third day of her three-day visit to North Bengal said, besides infiltration the administration should also remain vigilant against the spread of misinformation and fake news, stating that updates should only be disseminated through the government during any crisis.
The Chief Minister’s statement comes in the wake of India Operation Sindoor -— leading to a brief three-day missile-and-drone battle between India and Pakistan post Pahalgam terror attack.
It also comes against the backdrop of the present turmoil in Bangladesh post ouster of Sheikh Hasina Government and rise of Islamist fundamentalists who have been threatening India with suicide attacks — as also the arrest of a number of terror moles in the past week or so.
Recently the State Police and the Border Security Forces have gone on a sensitising exercise alerting the villagers about keeping an eye on newcomers, unknown faces, or for those matter guests, particularly from foreign countries coming to visit their neighbours.
“Camps have been held. Security agencies are actively sensitising villagers on potential threats and advising them to avoid night travel in sensitive areas. This includes encouraging early closure of shops and announcements from mosques. The focus on sensitising villagers reflects concerns about illegal migration, potential terror activities, and other threats emanating from Bangladesh.” said a senior police officer. In the past fortnight the Special Task Force of the State Police have arrested a number of terror moles including a Jamat ul Mujahideen Bangladesh member Shah Imam Sheikh from the Metiabruz area of Kolkata where he lived and functioned out of a tailor shop.
Ajmal Hussein, another such mole has been arrested from Nalhati in Birbhum district while Abbasuddin a third one has been picked up from South 24 Parganas, sources said. Both were members of JMB and are known to be specially trained in making Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
The BSF also arrested a person from Mekhliganj border in North Bengal and handed over to the police. He had crossed over to India several years ago and had been working as a Madarsa teacher in Birbhum. “He possesses more than one Indian identity proofs and also often move in and out of India to Bangladesh,” sources said.
Meanwhile the BJP hit out at the Chief Minister for allowing “Uncontrolled infiltration in Bengal as a part of her vote bank politics, that has created a major demographic problem today.”
BJP MLA from North Bengal Shankar Ghosh said, “The Chief Minister is now asking the administration and the people to remain alert but it is she who has allowed uncontrolled infiltration causing a massive demographic change in the State, today Bengal has become a safe haven for terrorists.”