India's Border Security Force (BSF) has taken up the issue of border fencing work with higher authorities in Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) following their preventing Indian authorities from carrying out the border fencing works in some patches along southern Tripura, officials stated. 

The officials said that the BGB personnel earlier this week had prevented the Public Works Department (PWD) of the Tripura government to erect the border fencing in the southern state's Sabroom along the India-Bangladesh border.

"In view of the BGB's objections, tensions prevailed along the bordering areas after the Sub-Divisional authority asked the people to remain alert while movement along the borders," a senior police official said.

A senior official of BSF's Tripura frontier headquarters at Shalbagan, near Agartala, said that they have asked the senior BGB officials to allow the Indian authorities to undertake the border fencing works in Sabroom.

Except for some portions, most parts of Tripura's 856 km border with Bangladesh already being fenced 150 yards from the zero lines of the international border but in some cases the barbed wire fencing was done less than the 150 yards as the markets, government installations, and habitations fell along the frontiers.

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had earlier appealed to the Indian Home Minister Amit Shah to complete the border fencing work along the India-Bangladesh frontiers to curb smuggling of drugs and other contraband, illegal cross border movement and crimes.'

The Indian side of the international border passes through 4,096-km India-Bangladesh borders with West Bengal (2,216 km), Assam (263 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Tripura (856 km) and Mizoram (318 km).

India started construction of the fence and floodlights along the India-Bangladesh border around 25 years ago to curb cross-border movement of terrorists, stop infiltration and check various border crimes, including smuggling and illegal trade.

(IANS)