India on Wednesday resumed the work to erect fences along the international frontier at Sukdebpur village in Kaliachak 3 block ignoring protests from the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

When the CPWD had started the installation of the fences on Monday, the BGB raised objections. Residents of Shibganj village — located across the border — in Chapai-Nawabganj district of the neighbouring country gathered near the boundary raising slogans against the work.

Sukdebpur residents also went to the frontier and raised slogans in favour of the BSF under whose vigil the CPWD was erecting the fences.

The border witnessed the protests and the counter-protests on Tuesday also.

Although villagers from the two countries gathered on either side of the border on Wednesday, workers engaged by the CPWD started installing fences under the strict vigil of BSF personnel. “The work (to put up the fences) started today and there is no major unrest in the area. Senior BSF officers visited the location,” said Nitin Singhania, the district magistrate of Malda.

Sources in the BSF said since Monday, the BSF and BGB held at least three flag meetings.

“Even today, a meeting was held where BSF officers reiterated that they were erecting the fences on the Indian land and so, there was no reason for the BGB and the Bangladeshis to raise any objection,” said a source.

BSF personnel at Sukdebpur, near the Bangladesh border, on Tuesday. Picture by Soumya De Sarkar

The BSF deployed additional troops in the area, where a stretch of around 50 metres is still unfenced.

Some administrative officials in Malda expressed disappointment over the lack of coordination on the part of the BSF.

“The installation of fences would have been smoother and quicker if the BSF had coordinated with the administration and police. The villagers could have been dissuaded from protests then. Such demonstrations worsen the situation,” said an official.A resident of Sukdebpur said: “It is a matter of national security. We suspect objections were made from the other side to promote infiltration into India and carry out other illegal activities through the unfenced portion. We will stand guard with the BSF and defeat any attempt by the BGB or Bangladeshis to halt the installation of fences.”

IG’s visit

Sanjay Gaur, the inspector general of the Guwahati frontier of the BSF, was on a three-day visit along the Indo-Bangla border in Cooch Behar.

In the Cooch Behar district, some portions of the international border are looked after by the Guwahati frontier while the rest are under the north Bengal frontier of the central security force.

Gaur, sources said, visited the border outposts to check out the current security scenario and operational preparedness.

Bangladeshi held

BSF troops posted in South Dinajpur nabbed a 17-year-old from the Thakurgaon district of Bangladesh on Tuesday as he tried to infiltrate into India. Bangladeshi currencies and a cell phone were found in his possession. He was handed over to the Hili police.

Additional reporting by our Siliguri correspondent