BSF foils infiltration bids, seizes contraband worth Rs 1.8 crore at Bangladesh border in Tripura

The officer added that in a series of other operations along the international border, cannabis, codeine-based cough syrups and other contraband were also seized.

BSF troops under the Tripura frontier have foiled several attempts of infiltration and smuggling recently, the officer said.

On February 5, a man sustained injuries after being hit by the BSF with a non-lethal weapon in Sepahijala district while he tried to cross the international border illegally. The injured person, identified as Akhtar Jamal Roni, is a resident of Putia village of Boxanagar in Sepahijala.

The incident occurred after BSF personnel ordered Akhtar Jamal Roni and another person moving towards the border fence from the Bangladesh side to stop. However, according to the BSF, they got involved in a scuffle with a sentry, attempting to snatch his pump-action gun. The BSF said the sentry fired one round in self-defence, injuring the man, while the other person fled to a nearby village.

The BSF arrested 14 Bangladesh citizens and two Indian touts at the end of January alone in a host of sweeping operations as vigilance had been tightened along the border prior to Republic Day.

Tripura has an 856-km-long border with Bangladesh on three sides, but a few patches are yet to be fenced owing to local disputes.