AGARTALA : Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha has directed the Border Security Force (BSF) and Tripura Police officials to take stringent actions against those facilitating illegal cross-border activities.

The directive came during a high-level meeting on Thursday, where Saha expressed serious concerns over the recent spike in infiltration activities at the Indo-Bangladesh border.

BSF sources informed India Today NE that the Chief Minister convened the meeting to address the rise in infiltration incidents. “Today evening, in the office of CM, a meeting was conducted to discuss the recent increase in the infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals.

Chief Secretary J K Sinha, Additional Director General (ADG) of Law and Order Anurag, S K Sinha, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) PSO of BSF, and other officials were present during the meeting. In the meeting, CM Manik Saha expressed his concern on the recent rise in infiltration of Bangladeshis into Indian territory,” stated the official.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister emphasized the need for immediate action against those providing shelter to infiltrators, facilitating their illegal entry into India. “The Chief Minister directed officials concerned to take appropriate action against the culprits involved in providing shelter to further facilitate them to cross the border illegally,” added the BSF source.

The meeting also highlighted the challenges faced due to the current manpower allocation. S K Sinha, DIG BSF, pointed out that the availability of personnel on the border has been affected due to the general parliamentary election and the deployment of BSF troops in Manipur. “Concerted efforts with all the agencies will certainly prove fruitful.

Identification of touts and action against them will reduce the incidents of infiltration. BSF is in the process of installing electronic gadgets for border surveillance at vulnerable patches. Several other issues were also discussed during the meeting,” said the source.

In addition to the meeting, Tripura Chief Minister Saha took to social media to share the steps being taken to combat border-related crimes. He wrote, “Had a meeting with the BSF and other security agencies to review the issues relating to human trafficking, smuggling, and other border-related crimes.

Directed them to take effective steps to stop all the illegal activities on the Indo-Bangladesh border. All the necessary assistance will be provided by the State Government for this purpose.”