'Makeshift ladders' along border used by intruders

GUWAHATI: If what four Bangladeshis have confessed before the police has anything to go by – the barbed-wire fencing between India and Bangladesh is not at all a barrier for intruders from the other side of the border.

Four Bangladeshis were arrested in the night of January 25, 2021 when they were loitering in a suspicious way at Hatigaon in Guwahati. The Hatigaon Police Station registered a case (77/21 u/s 14(A)(B) under the 'Foreigners Act' and Section 12/13 of the 'Passport Act') in this regard. The four Bangladeshis have been identified as Md Bappi Bepari (22), Phaijal Khan (19) and Raifat Khan (23) from Barisal district and Surath Majhi from Chandpur district in Bangladesh.

Their confessional statement before the police is startling.

Biren Deka, the Officer-in-Charge of Hatigaon Police Station, said, "The four persons have confessed that they are from Bangladesh. They have crossed over to India in the Tripura Sector of the Indo-Bangladesh border.

"The modus operandi they adopted for crossing the barbed wire fencing is quite innovative. A broker each from India (Rashid Khan) and Bangladesh (Rajib Khan) helped them cross the border on January 23, 2021. Rajib Khan helped them place a tree in an inclined way on the barbed wire fencing on the Bangladesh side. Another tree was placed inclined to the fencing on the Indian side by Rashid Khan. The two trees placed opposite to each other on the fencing worked like a ladder and enabled the four intruders to easily cross the barbed-wire fencing.

The OC further said, "The two brokers charged Rs 5,000 from each of the four intruders. Rajib Khan took the money to push them to India for jobs. Rashid Khan boarded the four in a bus for Guwahati from Agartala on January 24. They alighted at ISBT, Betkuchi in Guwahati on January 25, 2021."

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