Agartala, Oct 16: Two Bangladesh Police personnel who crossed into Indian territory near the Ashabari border area in Tripura’s Sepahijala district on Thursday night were handed over to Bangladeshi authorities on Friday following a flag meeting between the BSF and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), officials said.
The two policemen were identified as Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Imran Hossain and Constable Rohit Dewan, who are reportedly posted at a police station in Bangladesh’s Comilla district. According to officials, the two personnel were conducting an anti-narcotics operation near the international border when Constable Dewan chased a suspected drug trafficker and inadvertently entered Indian territory.
He was reportedly detained by local residents and subsequently handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF). ASI Hossain was also detained when he crossed into Indian territory to retrieve his colleague. An official said that the two policemen were subsequently taken into BSF custody and reportedly questioned overnight at the Ashabari Border Outpost (BOP).
Following communication between the border guarding forces and other concerned authorities of the two countries, a flag meeting was arranged on Friday to facilitate their handover. The meeting was reportedly held near the zero line of the international border, with BSF personnel and representatives of the BGB, police and intelligence agencies from both sides participating in the discussions.
Following deliberations, the two Bangladesh Police personnel were handed over to Bangladeshi authorities, the officials said. However, no detailed official statement explaining the circumstances of the incident or confirming all the details of the handover was immediately available.
Tripura, which has an 856 km border with Bangladesh, is surrounded on three sides by the neighbouring country, making the Northeastern state very vulnerable and sensitive to cross-border migration issues and smuggling of various contraband. Except for 50 km patches, most of the frontier had been fenced to prevent smuggling, trans-border crimes, cross-border illegal movements by infiltrators and inimical elements.
IANS