New DG BSF Appointed

Newly appointed Special Director General of the BSF, Pranay Sahaya has appreciated the role of Bangladesh in cracking down on the base camps of North East India militant outfits in their territory. Sahaya had stated that due to the fear of security forces of India and Bangladesh the camps of the North East India militants which were once within close proximity to the India-Bangladesh border are now being shifted deep inside Bangladesh.

“Underground groups operating from Bangladesh are under extreme pressure. Many of the groups are in the process of shifting to Myanmar. In fact a section of ULFA is in the process of shifting to Myanmar because of the pressure from Bangladesh,” said Sahaya. “Myanmar is as concerned about the Indo-Myanmar border as we are. 1650 km is a very long border and the present manning of the border is a very skeletal presence,” Sahaya added.

He however said that the situation in the North East has improved and Tripura has been the most successful state in curbing insurgency. The DGP informed that, “In 2008 in the North East there were 1561 insurgent related incidents, in 2009 it came down to 1297. As compared to this, till 15th August 2010, there were only 464 incidents and the number of casualties during the same period in the Northeastern states was only 15 as compared to a very large number during the previous two years. He said, “The current government (Bangladesh) is about two years old as in January 2009 it has come in and its tenure is for another three years. Whatever good has to happen to the North East should be done within this period. We never know the future; therefore, the improvement in the North East has a limited time frame. However, some of our top underground groups continue to stay in the neighboring countries. They should be handed over to us.”