A 12-km riverine stretch in this West Bengal district along the Indo-Bangla border has earned notoriety for being the hub of an 'under-water' mode of smuggling of spices and eatables between people of the two countries.
The small, 150-metre wide, flank of Sonai river in Hakimpura area has become such a challenge that border guarding force BSF has deployed close to 300 personnel here to curb smuggling instances which largely take place in broad daylight.
"All kinds of spices, salt, sugar, groceries, jaggery, milk, eggs, other eatables and other daily goods are smuggled from across the Indian side to Bangladesh while betel nut, sesame seeds, garlic, fish (hilsa) and even gold is illegally handed over under the water from this area," an official said.
This illegal activity has become the source of "livelihood" for many people on the either side of the border as a good cache of goods smuggled this way fetches a profit of Rs 200-300 in one go, the official said.
This 'under-water' smuggling happens right in front of BSF and their counterparts Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
"When people from both the sides come for a bath or daily ablutions in the river, they bring with themselves neatly packed goods cleverly concealed under their clothes and while swimming they hand it over to the other side from under the water," a BSF official says about the modus operandi.
On the other side of the Sonai riverine border lies the the Kakdanga village of Bangladesh which also has BGB posts at some locations.
"It's a daunting challenge for our boys to keep a check on smuggling along this small riverine front. The river is not very wide and at times when there are several people in the water it becomes difficult for us to keep a check on who's from this side and who is from the other," BSF Commanding Officer of the area Rajesh told PTI on the banks of 'Aambagan' here.
The force, confronted with this one-of-it's kind challenge on this 4,096-km border, has deployed a motorboat and a small marine-trained squad to patrol the waters. Besides this, troops also keep a watch on the river area by patrolling along its banks and from make-shift posts.
