Tripura CM Saha assures repair of damaged India-Bangladesh border fence

On a visit to the Chandipur-Srirampur area in the Unakoti district on Saturday, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha assured of all necessary steps to repair portions of the India-Bangladesh border fencing that were damaged due to river erosion, the government informed through an official statement on Saturday.

Further, according to the statement, the CM, during his visit to the border area, interacted with the locals and heard their problems.

The locals informed the CM that the damage to the border fencing had given rise to the smuggling of contraband items, infiltration and cattle theft.

The chief minister assured them that the issue would be taken up on priority with the central Government.

"Necessary steps will be taken to repair the damaged India-Bangladesh international border caused by river erosion soon," CM Saha was quoted as saying in the official statement.

During his visit, the chief minister was accompanied by Social Welfare and Social Education Minister Tinku Roy, ARDD Minister Sudhangshu Das, Unakoti district magistrate and SP, BSF officials, and the Gram Pradhan.

In June, the Border Security Force (BSF) Tripura apprehended an India national and seized 3,195 bottles of Eskuf syrup, worth Rs 5,59,125, that were being smuggled into Bangladesh.

In April, Tripura Police said it seized contraband drugs worth Rs 2.5 crores.

It added that it arrested 245 persons and registered 50 cases during the weeklong 'Anti Narcotics Special Drive' across the state.

Earlier, a BSF statement said that vigilant troops deployed in the frontier or border areas of Tripura were undertaking proactive operations against trans-border smugglers, leading to the seizure of various contraband items.