Bangla youth enters India on bike, 8 BSF men ‘closed’

Silchar: In an incident highlighting potential gaps in border security, a Bangladeshi youth managed to enter Indian territory through Sutarkandi land port on a motorcycle. Though the young man is still missing, his bike and helmet were found abandoned in Karimganj town on Thursday. A sub-inspector, two head constables, five constables of the BSF’s 167 battalion have been “closed” (removed from duty) for the incident.C P Meena, deputy inspector general (DIG) of the Silchar sector of the BSF’s Mizoram-Cachar Frontier, supervised the border security system on Thursday and ordered the establishment of a separate operational (OP) point and installation of CCTV cameras at the zero point of the border.Karimganj superintendent of police Partha Pratim Das, Sadar OC Bhaben Dihingia, and Sadar circle officer Joy Christina Namlai also rushed to the international border. However, police and BSF are tightlipped about the incident.Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) assured their full cooperation in the ongoing investigation during a flag meeting held at the international border on Thursday. According to sources, nine BSF jawans of the 167 BSF battalion were on duty at Sutarkandi-Sheola port on Wednesday afternoon when it started raining heavily. Just then, before the BSF men could understand what was happening, a red motorbike with Sylhet registration crossed Sutarkandi port at high speed and entered the Indian side. The BSF men chased him but the Bangladeshi youth fled towards Fakirabazar.