BSF Director-General M L Kumawat said in Shillong that New Delhi has decided to raise 29 additional battalions of the BSF and set up over 500 new Border Outposts, most of which will be located along the porous and sensitive frontier with Bangladesh in the Northeast.
Supporters of the Indian Secular Front (ISF) clashed with police in West Bengal on Monday during protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act, leading to several injuries and the torching of multiple police vehicles. The clash occurred after police stopped ISF supporters from attending an anti-Waqf Act rally in Kolkata. The protests escalated when the crowd attempted to break through police barricades. The situation was brought under control after a large police force was deployed. ISF leader Naushad Siddique condemned the Waqf Act and accused the BJP of trying to incite communal tension. Meanwhile, the ruling Trinamool Congress dismissed the ISF as a "party of no consequence." Communal violence related to the Waqf Act has also occurred in other parts of West Bengal.
Expressing concern over the continued movement of people across the India-Bangladesh border despite intensive checking, the Director General was also of the view that the government should shift its focus from the western to the eastern sector.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has announced that India will soon create a comprehensive anti-drone unit to secure its borders. He highlighted the increasing threat posed by drones, especially along the India-Pakistan border, and emphasized a 'whole of government' approach to tackle this issue. Shah also spoke about the ongoing Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) and the Modi government's Vibrant Village Programme, which aims to develop and integrate the population of northern borders.
In his first visit to BSF HQ after taking over as home minister, Shah was given a presentation on BSF deployment along Pak, Bangladesh borders.
BSF director general (DG) Pankaj Kumar Singh on Tuesday said that the "demographic balance" has been upset in border-states like Assam and West Bengal over a period of time and that was probably the reason that the Centre recently extended the force's jurisdiction.
A BSF jawan was killed on Thursday when Pakistani troops opened sniper fire at Indian forward post along the Line of Control in Baramulla of North Kashmir.
Singh also reviewed the situation on the border and assessed the progress in various infrastructure projects.
'Often people outside paint a wrong picture of us of Kashmiris. We are not like that. We are cool and bindaas,' said the lady, a teacher, caressing my cheeks in the pressing crowds.
As part of a 'Green Mission', the Border Security Force has taken a massive plantation drive all over the country to set a record in the Limca Book of Records, a BSF officer said on Sunday.
There are always attempts from across the border to push in more terrorists before the onset of winter and closure of tracks due to heavy snowfall, but the security forces are alert and would foil any infiltration bids, Border Security Force Director General Nitin Agrawal said in Srinagar Thursday.
India's fresh restrictions on limiting access to Bangladeshi exports appear to be in response to Dhaka denying certain value-added items from the Northeast to enter that country through the land transit points.
A massive multi-tier combing operation to track down a group of infiltrating terrorists continued for the fourth consecutive day in forested areas of Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district. The operation, involving the army, NSG, BSF, police, Special Operation Group, and CRPF, is supported by helicopter, UAVs, drones, bulletproof vehicles, and sniffer dogs. The operation was launched on Sunday evening following an encounter between security forces and terrorists hiding in a nursery. Security agencies have questioned several persons in various areas and picked up three suspects for questioning.
"It's an unfortunate incident. The BSF convoy was attacked on the national highway by terrorists who fired at it from the by-lanes near Bijbehara," Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police K Rajendra said.
A delegation from the National Commission for Women (NCW) visited a relief camp in Malda, West Bengal, and reported that women were being harassed and threatened by police. The NCW team, led by chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar, met with those displaced by riots in Murshidabad and alleged that the women were being coerced to return home without proper safety measures. The team is scheduled to travel to Murshidabad and Kolkata to continue their investigation.
The court observed that illegal immigration will be on the rise in view of the present unstable situation in Bangladesh.
The DG-level border talks between India and Bangladesh, scheduled to be held in Delhi next month, have been postponed following a change in plan by the neighbouring country, official sources said on Friday.
The BSF troops were carrying out border domination along the IB, when snipers of Pakistan Rangers opened fire on them around 1050 hours in Hiranagar-Samba sector of Kathua district, said a senior BSF officer.
Asthana is the 27th chief of the force and is expected to hold office till July next year, his scheduled date for retirement from service.
The Indian government has sent an additional 50 CAPF companies, comprising over 5,000 personnel, to Manipur to address the challenging security and law and order situation in the northeastern state. This comes after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) deployed 20 additional CAPF companies to the state following violence in Jiribam district. The deployment brings the total number of CAPF companies in Manipur to 218. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will also meet to review the security situation in Manipur and strategize to handle the volatile situation in the state.
Small Chinese-made drones, carrying narcotics in 95 per cent cases, are flying over from across the border into Punjab and Jammu regions and these flights are a "cause of concern" for which technology solutions are being scouted actively, BSF director general (DG) Pankaj Kumar Singh said on Tuesday.
The BSF also said multiple infiltration bids by Pakistan along the International Border have been foiled in recent past.
Two terrorists were killed and five security personnel were injured in a fierce gun battle in a remote forested area of Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir. The encounter, which involved a group of approximately five terrorists, triggered intense firing and explosions. The gunfight, centered near Jakhole village, resulted in injuries to Special Police Officer Bharat Chalotra, who sustained facial wounds. Three security personnel, including a Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), were reportedly trapped near the gunfight's location. The terrorists were moving through the forest area when a police party headed by an SDPO moved in after getting specific information. Reinforcements from the police, army, and CRPF were immediately deployed to the area.
Abdul Rasheed was trying to get posting in the border areas so that he could pass on the information to ISI, said Delhi police.
He said the force, which guards over 6,300 km of India's land border with Pakistan in the west and Bangladesh on the east, is faced by four main challenges on the security front.
The home minister also reviewed the preparations for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage scheduled to begin on June 29.
The Border Security Force on said its crashed Superking aircraft that killed 10 of its highly experienced personnel was completely "airworthy" and was flying "very well" as it refuted allegations about any possible defect in the ill-fated plane.
The force later examined the tunnel and found plastic sandbags on its mouth that had "Pakistani markings" on them.
A 150-metre long underground tunnel suspected to be used by terrorists for infiltration was detected.
As news of Hasina's departure spread, hundreds broke into Hasina's residence, vandalising and looting the interiors, providing dramatic expression to the anti-government protests that have killed more than 100 people in the last two days. At the centre of people anger is the Hasina government's controversial quota system reserving 30 per cent jobs for families of veterans who fought the 1971 liberation war. With volatile crowds taking to the streets -- some clambering on Hasina's father and Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's statue and smashing it with hammers in a lasting image underscoring the fickleness of history -- Army chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman announced that the 76-year-old prime minister has resigned.
Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir resumed an anti-terrorist operation in Kathua district, a day after a deadly encounter killed three terrorists and three policemen. Seven others were injured in the gunbattle. The operation began on Thursday morning after a group of suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists infiltrated from across the International Border. While the bodies of three terrorists were found, the fate of two others remains unknown. The operation, centered near Jakhole village, saw intense clashes involving police, army, and CRPF forces.
Pakistani authorities on Thursday assured their Border Security Force counterparts that a jawan, who was captured in their territory after being swept away by a strong current of the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir, will be handed back on Friday.
Meanwhile, a precautionary blackout has been enforfced in the multiple areas amid the esclating tensions between India and Pakistan.
Colonel Sofiya Qureshi revealed that 300 to 400 drones were deployed across 36 locations, with several being shot down by Indian forces using both kinetic and non-kinetic methods.
Terming the incident "unfortunate", the Bangladesh home minister said the director general of both the forces should ideally sit together and solve the issue.
Data reveals that only 25 of total 774 deaths in the period between January 2015 and September 2016 were battle casualties.
In one of the most-awaited acts of the day, the women constables, in their debut, created some stunning formations, such as "fish riding, side riding, faulaad, peacock and Saptarishi", that dropped jaws and drew cheers. Now this is what we call women power!
"Two BSF constables got surrounded and were badly hurt (by the miscreants). It was then that they opened fire in self-defence. They fired a few rounds in the air. Later it was found that two persons on that side of the border had died in the firing," BSF Additional Director General Y B Khurania said.
India will also seek to know from Bangladesh whether any progress had been made on its demand for closure of 99 terrorist training camps existing there.
In order to plug loopholes in the porous and unfenced borders along Pakistan and Bangladesh, India will soon set up a 'smart fence' mechanism as part of an over Rs 4,500-crore modernisation plan being implemented by the Border Security Force.
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