Special Correspondent
SILCHAR: Questions have been raised on several occasions about the alertness and vigilance of BSF on the frontier, regarded as the first line of defence. But, police forces often have often to intercept smugglers of both the countries, India and Bangladesh, from smuggling out or in of contraband goods, cows, and even buffalos. On Sunday, a gang of smugglers tried to take away forcibly the four buffalos from the possession of Baroigram police, 20 km from Karimganj, which prompted the officer-in-charge Utpal Chanda to open three rounds of blank fire to scare them away.
The buffalos in question were being smuggled out to Bangladesh. On the basis of a tip-off, the officer in charge with his team of policemen laid a trap to nab the anti-social elements by hiding themselves in bushes near the Sunatula border area. The four buffalos were being made to walk through the serpentine passage meant for patrolling by BSF. When the police team intercepted them, the miscreants with sharp weapons tried to attack them. Utpal Chanda admitted the veracity of the incident.
Taking advantage of the enveloping darkness of evening, the smugglers made their escape good. Two days back, border residents of Dalgram caught red-handed an anti-social element while trying to smuggle out a cow. This led to consternation among the smugglers active on both sides of the border. The police are extending all possible help to border residents to keep their morale high and send a definite message to the anti-social elements as well. The people, in general, have appreciated the activeness and alertness of the Assam police despite all their constraints. Such cross-border crimes also reflect on the lordly indifference of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). Unverified numbers of smugglers become active during the evening and night hours and taking advantage of topography continue their hazardous job.