Senior BSF official reviews preparedness along Indo-B’desh border

Border Security Force (BSF) Special Director General (SDG), Eastern Command, Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, on Monday, reviewed the border guarding forces’ operational preparedness and key strategic matters, officials said.

A BSF spokesman said that Aggarwal, a senior IPS officer, arrived in Agartala on Monday for a three-day visit, and later he was briefed by the Tripura frontier Inspector General Aloke Kumar Chakraborty on operational preparedness and key strategic matters.

Upon his arrival at BSF Tripura frontier headquarters here, the SDG BSF was accorded a guard of honour. Aggarwal called on Tripura Governor Indrasena Reddy Nallu at the Raj Bhavan, Chief Minister Manik Saha, Director General of Police Anurag and Chief Secretary J. K. Sinha and discussed various border-related issues.

“During these meetings, the current security scenario and various issues about the state of Tripura were discussed,” the spokesman said.

He said that as part of his itinerary, SDG BSF would visit several border-deployed units to assess the ground situation and interact with field commanders and troops.

His visit aims to reinforce operational efficiency and boost the morale of BSF personnel.

“To study the ground situation, Aggarwal will visit several stretches of the India-Bangladesh border during his three-day visit to Tripura,” the BSF spokesman stated.

Another BSF official said that the para-military troops (BSF) have enhanced vigil and intensified their domination along the International Border since the violence in Bangladesh began in June-July last year, especially after the fall of the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government on August 5, 2024.

Tripura, which has an 856 km border with Bangladesh, is surrounded on three sides by the neighbouring country, making the northeastern state very vulnerable and sensitive to cross-border migration issues.

Except for some patches, most of the frontier had been fenced to prevent smuggling, trans-border crimes, cross-border illegal movements by infiltrators and inimical elements.