BSF seized about 1.32
quintals of hilsa in Karimganj
BSF fishes for ‘catch’
OUR CORRESPONDENT TELEGRAPH
INDIA South
Assam
|
| A basket of hilsa
|
Nov. 9: The BSF and the central customs department
have a somewhat slippery assignment on their hands — to
prevent hilsa from
Bangladesh from landing up on
dinner plates in south
Assam.
Delhi has instructed the two agencies to conduct
frequent raids on the 132-km stretch of the international
border along south
Assam to give cross-border smugglers of hilsa a
“taste” of their own medicine.
With the hilsa count plummeting in recent times,
Bangladesh has banned the export of its national
fish, which is in great demand across the border,
particularly in West Bengal and the Northeast.
This week, the BSF seized about 1.32 quintals of hilsa
neatly stacked beneath ice in wooden boxes in Karimganj.
The boxes were seized during two raids near Balia village
under Nilambazar block, one of the most porous sites along
the border.
The catch has been handed over to the customs department
to be auctioned.
A senior BSF official today said impounding of fish along
the border began after the Union home ministry renewed its
instructions to the border force. The ministry took
serious note of unchecked smuggling of hilsa from
Bangladesh last month itself.
Fish vendors in Cachar and Karimganj said hilsa was being
“imported” to south Assam with the knowledge of the
authorities before the ban was enforced. In 2005 alone, as
much as 15,000 quintals of the fish found their way here.
BSF officials at the regional headquarters in Masimpur
said more troops would be deployed in the two districts
now that the force had shifted from the care of a
director-general of police into that of an
inspector-general of police. Earlier, a DIG used to head
three battalions in the area.
An official said more troops were necessary as
construction of a barbed-wire fence along the border was
going on at a very slow pace.
On Wednesday, BSF jawans were involved in an exchange of
fire with a group of smugglers ferrying contraband near
Balia. Nobody was injured in the incident.
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