BSF pushes back infiltrators from Assam border, Bangladesh says 'not from our country'

Guwahati: Tension prevailed along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam's South Salmara Mankachar district after BSF personnel "pushed back" a group of persons who allegedly tried to infiltrate into India.

The Guwahati Frontier Headquarters of the BSF, which looks after the border at Mankachar, said their personnel challenged a large group of Bangladeshi nationals, who tried to infiltrate into India on Tuesday morning.

"Acting swiftly, the BSF troops challenged them to prevent their unauthorised entry into Indian territory," said the statement.

Sources in police said a group of Bangladesh nationals engaged in verbal arguments from their side of the border, alleging that those pushed by the BSF were not from Bangladesh. The Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) also objected to the BSF action and did not allow the persons to cross the zero line.

The BSF, however, did not talk about the objection by the BGB.

Drive against illegal migrants:

The BJP-led government in Assam launched a drive against illegal migrants from Bangladesh and detained more than 100 persons. The drive followed an order of the MHA to the states to identify the illegal migrants for their deportation.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma recently said several "illegal migrants" were "pushed back" into Bangladesh instead of detaining them. "Earlier, we used to arrest them, produce them in courts and follow the legal procedure. But now we are pushing them back right from the border in order to avoid the legal procedure and the hassles," he said.

The fresh drive, however, has resulted in sharp reactions with many alleging harassment of innocent Indians in the name of the detection of illegal migrants.

Assam shares a 262km border with Bangladesh, but some stretches have still remained unfenced. This aids illegal migration and cross-border crimes.