BGB boosts border watch over India-Pakistan strain
Staff Reporter :
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has stepped up surveillance and security patrols along the country’s western frontiers in Jashore and Rajshahi, as tensions escalate between India and Pakistan.
Officials say the heightened measures are designed to prevent illegal border crossings and ensure stability amid regional uncertainty.
According to Lt Colonel Saifullah Siddiqui, commanding officer of the BGB-49 Battalion, the force has intensified its patrols across a 70-kilometre stretch of the Jashore border under the watch of the Jashore-70 Battalion.
“We are on high alert,” he said, noting that the move is a precautionary step to prevent any unauthorized entry from across the Indian border.
Similar measures are in place along a 76-kilometre stretch of the Rajshahi frontier, where BGB personnel have increased both manpower and vigilance. Public announcements in the area have urged local residents to avoid gathering near the borderline and to confine agricultural activities to daytime hours, specifically between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
“The border is calm for now,” said Al Mamun, a resident of Sharsha upazila in Jashore. “But if there’s any provocation from the Indian side or attempts to infiltrate, we are prepared to support our border forces.”
Alamgir Hossain, an elected representative from a Rajshahi border village, expressed cautious concern. “The situation here remains stable,” he said. “But we’re noticing BSF personnel appearing every 300 yards instead of every 500, which is a worrying sign.”
On the Rajshahi border, four individuals were detained on the night of May 7 after crossing into Bangladesh illegally. They have since been handed over to local police. Authorities believe the crossings are linked to the escalating border activities prompted by the geopolitical strain between India and Pakistan.
In a related development, BGB officials have alleged that India’s Border Security Force (BSF) forcibly pushed 80 Indian nationals-many of them women and children-into Bangladesh’s Khagrachhari district on Tuesday. The group was reportedly split across three different border points: 27 through Shantipur, 23 through Achalong Para of Taindong Union, and 30 via Ruposhi Para in Panchhari upazila.
Khagrachhari’s Acting Deputy Commissioner Nazmun Ara Sultana confirmed
the incident, saying the group entered through Matiranga and Panchhari upazilas. Authorities are currently investigating the identities and nationalities of those involved.
While the current security posture remains preventive in nature, BGB officials have signaled that they are prepared for a range of contingencies, including a potential rise in border tensions if the India-Pakistan conflict worsens.