Kolkata: Of late the number of female cross-border smugglers at the Indo-Bangladesh border areas has increased. To combat this menace, special women’s teams have been deputed to these border outposts, BSF Additional Director General (Eastern Command) YB Khurana told media persons here on Thursday.
Recently a senior MLA of Trinamool Congress in West Bengal had complained that the male BSF personnel often sexually abuse women while frisking. When the MLA from Dinhata assembly made the allegations on the floor of the assembly, the BSF ADG had convened an urgent press conference to refute the charges. He then said that the allegations of sexual harassment do not stand at all since female suspects are only frisked by women personnel of the force.
Speaking to the reporters at the headquarters of the BSF’s eastern command in Kolkata on Thursday, Khurana said that after deputing the women’s teams in the Indo-Bangladesh borders, high-quality barbed fencing, CCTV cameras and entry-cut fencing have been raised and installed in different pockets of the same borders.
He also said that the 15 new human trafficking units have been stationed at the Indo-Bangladesh border. “The task of these units is to examine and interrogate illegal immigrants arrested by BSF. These units try to extract from them the purpose of their illegal immigration. After that if necessary, they are handed over to the local police station,” he said.
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Speaking on the occasion, Khurana claimed that during 2021, BSF achieved immense successes in their search and seizure operations in different bordering areas of eastern India and was able to prevent smuggling and trafficking. However, during the press conference, he had to face uncomfortable questions on the involvement of BSF officers and jawans in coal and cattle smuggling, some of whom were even arrested by the sleuths of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“It is not true that CBI first traced the involvement of a section of the BSF’s officers and jawans in such illegal activities. It was the BSF internal vigilance wing who first noticed such irregularities and it was BSF that informed the CBI on this matter. Later these erring officers and jawans were arrested by CBI,” he said.
He also said that such irregularities are still continuing among certain sections. “But our internal vigilance wing is alert,” he added.
