Pankaj Kumar Singh, the director general of the Border Security Force, on Friday said the recent decision by the Centre to increase the jurisdiction of the paramilitary force that guards the frontiers with Pakistan and Bangladesh was to prevent illegal immigration.

“Being a border guarding force, we implement whatever ordinance or act is passed by the central government. It is a mandate by the government to prevent entry of illegal immigrants into the country and also applies to those who try to leave the country without having any passport,” said Singh.

He was in Fulbari, a transit point near Bangladesh located in the southern end of Siliguri under the Jalpaiguri district on Friday.

The decision by the Union home ministry to extend the jurisdiction of the BSF from 15km to 50km within the territory from the India-Bangladesh border in Bengal – similar changes have been made in some other states – had drawn criticism from chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

She categorically opposed it and even sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Also, a resolution was passed in the Assembly against the decision. The resolution moved by Trinamul was opposed by the 63 MLAs of the BJP who showed up. Hence, 112 votes were cast for the motion and 63 votes went against it.

Singh, when asked about the state’s opposition, dodged a direct reply and underscored that they were working in close coordination with the state police.

“I had a meeting with the director general of police and the chief secretary (of Bengal) yesterday. We have been working in close coordination with local police and the administration across the state and there has been no problem so far,” he said.

Talking about the Indo-Bangla border, Singh said almost 85 per cent of the border had been fenced.

“There are certain riverine stretches and we closely monitor those areas. Also, we are getting funds from the Centre to replace some of the old fences and install new fences in some stretches on the basis of a vulnerability mapping that has been carried out,” said the BSF officer.

He said mafias and anti-social elements who were involved in smuggling always tried to foment trouble. “But we maintain contact with various security and intelligence agencies across the country so that such plans can be foiled. Drives are being carried out on a regular basis to prevent smuggling and other anti-national activities in the borders,” he said.

Singh also claimed that over the past few years, the BSF had managed to bring down cattle smuggling, an illegal activity that is carried out across the Indo-Bangla border.

“In 2018, we had seized 1.70 lakh cattle before those were about to be smuggled. However, in 2021, the number of seized cattle has reduced to around 35,000. This shows that we have managed to curb smuggling of cattle at the border,” he said.