‘All borders sealed to keep out infections’

NEW DELHI: There have been no major activities like infiltration of terrorists, human trafficking, cattle, fake currency or drug smuggling along India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh over the last month as they have been completely sealed, the head of Border Security Force (BSF) and Indo-Tibet Border Force (ITBP) said on Thursday.

“Our priority during the [Covid-19] lockdown has been to stop infiltration of coronavirus carriers from across the border while maintaining tight vigil on other activities,” said Surjeet Singh Deswal. “We have maintained a high level of alertness at the borders, which are completely sealed with no movement of any kind.”

Jammu & Kashmir police chief Dilbagh Singh last week accused Pakistan of pushing Covid-19 infected militants to spread the disease in the Union Territory. The intelligence agencies have also alerted the government that about 300 terrorists were waiting to cross over from Pakistan, according to people aware of the matter. Pakistan has also resorted to shelling and firing, which are often used as cover to push in infiltrators into India, along the Line of Control (LoC). Without going into specifics, Deswal said Pakistan’s “mischievous acts” along the international border and the LoC have been responded “with double impact”. Deswal said a few incidents of smuggling or people crossing from the Bangladesh border were reported last month.

According to BSF data, over 20,000 cattle were smuggled to Bangladesh from January 1 to March 24. After the lockdown, this number has come down to around 300. Smuggling of drugs, gold, and silver has drastically reduced since March 25 when the lockdown was imposed.

According to the data, 97 kg of heroin was seized along the IndiaPakistan border in Punjab between January 1 and March 24, while only 17 kg heroin was seized from March 25 till April 12.

“There has been no infiltration of terrorists. A couple of incidents had taken place in Punjab when a Pakistani national was stopped from crossing over on March 25 at Pulmoran in Amritsar while another Pakistani was apprehended from Bamer in Ferozepur on March 26. Otherwise, the border is quiet,” said a BSF officer who did not wish to be named.

The BSF is responsible for guarding the 2,289-kms border with Pakistan from Gujarat to Jammu. It also manages 237-km long LoC under the army’s operational control. The BSF guards the entire 4,092 km-long border with Bangladesh.

ACCORDING TO BSF DATA, SMUGGLING OF DRUGS, CATTLE, GOLD, AND SILVER HAS DRASTICALLY REDUCED SINCE MARCH 25 WHEN THE LOCKDOWN WAS IMPOSED