India steps up vigil on borders with Bangladesh, Myanmar

Agartala/Aizawl : Ahead of the Independence Day, Indian authorities have asked security forces to increase vigil along the international borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar, officials said on Monday.

Border Security Force troopers are guarding India's border with Bangladesh while the Assam Rifles are deployed along the country's frontier with Myanmar.

"We have asked the BSF to further intensify vigil along the India-Bangladesh border to check any trespassing and clandestine trans-border movements," Tripura's Inspector General of Police (law and order) K.V. Sreejesh told IANS.

Additional security in all entry and exist points of Tripura were deployed and CCTV cameras were installed to closely monitor the movement of vehicles and people, he said.

"Security was also stepped up at the airports, railway stations, bus terminus, shopping malls, market and crowded places. Close vigils are being kept at all places that are sensitive and important," Sreejesh said.

"Night patrolling has been increased. Bomb and dog squads are doing constant rounds," he added.

Besides the border forces, Tripura police, Tripura State Rifles and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are also keeping vigil within the state.

In Aizawl, an Assam Rifles official said that their troopers were on high alert along the unfenced India-Myanmar borders to curb infiltration.

Smuggling of drugs and arms has also come down to a large extent, the official said.

While Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam share an 1,880-km border with Bangladesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh share a 1,640-km unfenced border with Myanmar.

An official of the Airports Authority of India said entry of people, except for passengers, into the terminal buildings across the northeast has been barred. The restrictions will continue till August 18.