Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) on Monday said it has zero tolerance towards insurgent activities, arms smuggling and drug and human trafficking along the international border with India.
The assurance was given by a BGB delegation led by its Additional Director General Tanveer Gani Choudhury during a three-day commander-level conference with Border Security Force (BSF) which ended here on Monday. It was attended by the inspector generals of BSF's Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram and Silchar frontiers.
"We have zero tolerance towards insurgent activities, smuggling of firearms and explosives, and trafficking of humans and drugs. Some border-related issues have been discussed in depth and efforts will be taken to curb trans-border crimes," Choudhury told reporters.
The BSF, on the other hand, strongly protested the attacks on its on-duty personnel and Indian civilians by criminals from Bangladesh.
BSF Inspector General, Tripura Frontier, S K Nath, who led the Indian delegation, said, "Security-related issues were discussed and a list of insurgent groups from Meghalaya and Tripura taking shelter in Bangladesh was handed over to the BGB with a request to take action against those militants."
While the BGB claimed that there is no permanent camp of such armed groups in Bangladesh, it said that these insurgents might have taken shelter among their sympathisers in the neighbouring country.
The BGB assured the Indian delegation that action will be taken against rebels from India, especially those from Meghalaya and Tripura, a senior official privy to the meeting said.
The two border forces also signed a joint record of discussion, which contained an agreed plan of action and detailed cooperation to handle trans-border crimes such as drug trafficking and cattle smuggling, besides illegal immigration.
With PTI inputs.