A senior BSF officer on Sunday said the miscreants entered Lafasail, which is outside the barbed wire fencing and along Biyanibazar sub-division in Sylhet division of Bangladesh at about 10 pm on Saturday. They torched a house belonging to Fakir Uddin, where fodder was stored. The villagers and the BSF troops rushed to the spot on hearing a commotion over the fire. This prevented the miscreants from torching more houses and they managed to flee into Bangladeshi territory in the darkness of the night.
BSF sources said there is no report of any loss of life in the incident. However, following the torching, a flag meeting was held between the BSF and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Sunday where BSF was represented by an assistant commander of the 115 battalion.
The BGB officials assured the BSF that adequate care would be taken so that no such incidents take place in future. The suspected miscreants will be identified and action will be taken against them by concerned authorities, BGB officials said.
Following the incident, tension prevails on both sides of the border. Reports said while the BSF has increased its deployment in its Sutarkandi BOP, the BGB has also done the same in its Gajukata BOP on the other side of the border. The BSF has intensified its vigil along the international border while an alert has been sounded along the 92-km international border in Karimganj, the source added.
However, deputy commissioner (Karimganj) Jiten Borgoari said the situation is under control and there is no tension along the border. "Bangladeshi miscreants often indulge in antisocial activities and since the house in question was outside the barbed fencing, it was easier for the miscreants to put it on fire. However, BSF has been maintaining constant vigil to prevent such incidents," the DC said.
The source said 65 Indian families of Lafasail village, all Bengali-speaking Muslims, are living in the no man's land between India and Bangladesh. Bangladeshi miscreants often target these families so that they leave the place and it becomes convenient for the Bangladeshis to acquire and cultivate the land belonging to the Indian villagers, a villager complained.
The Indo-Bangladesh border in this part of Assam has witnessed incidents of violence between the border troops of both countries over cultivation of Indian land by Bangladeshis in the past. On August 10, 2006 the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), now BGB, fired at three Indian border outposts, killing two Indian women, injuring five others and displacing 10,000 persons, which created a war-like situation in Cachar district of Assam. The BDR targeted Harinagar, Kinnokhal and Tokargram border outposts of the BSF with heavy mortar when BSF jawans acted to prevent Bangladeshi farmers from cultivating paddy in the Indian land in question.
A senior BSF officer said Bangladeshi miscreants entered Lafasail village, which is outside the barbed wire fencing and along Biyanibazar sub-division in Sylhet division of Bangladesh, at about 10 pm on Saturday. They torched a house belonging to Fakir Uddin and fled to Bangladesh under cover of dark