High alert in Indo-Bangla border areas after Dhaka carnage

In the wake of the terror attack in Dhaka, a high alert has been sounded on the Indo-Bangla border in the five states of West Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam and Mizoram, with the Border Security Force(BSF) stepping up its vigil.

India and Bangladesh share a 4,096-km-long international border, the fifth-longest land border in the world, with West Bengal having the highest length with 2,217 km. The length of the border in the other four states is Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Assam (262 km) and Mizoram (180 km).

The West Bengal administration has asked the state police to be on high alert and take serious note of any suspicious movement in the border districts. “All police stations along the Indo-Bangla border have been alerted and all border districts have been told to keep a close eye on any suspicious movement,” a senior police official of the West Bengal police said.

Vehicles are being checked at various entry and exit points in the districts bordering Bangladesh, which has declared a two-day state mourning after the attack on a cafe in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone on Friday night resulting in the killing of 20 persons, all foreigners, who were taken hostage.

Keeping in view the festive season with Id and rath yatra to be celebrated, a strict vigil was being maintained on the border. But after the attack in Bangladesh, the BSF had further intensified the vigil and special operations were on, IG BSF Sandeep Salunke had told a news agency.

Mr Salunke also said that the BSF was in touch with Border Guard Bangladesh and keeping a close eye on the situation.

Twenty foreigners, including eight Italians, seven Japanese and the Indian student, were brutally murdered by the militants inside the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone before commandos launched an assault yesterday, killing six attackers and capturing one alive, ending Bangladesh’s worst terror attack.

An Indian teenager, Tarishi Jain, who was hacked to death by ISIS terrorists in a terror attack, will be brought to Delhi on Monday, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said.

“It is a case of brutal killing — an unnatural death. Some legal procedure has (to) be completed,” the minister said on Twitter.

Ms Swaraj said that Tarishi’s body will be taken to Delhi by plane on Monday. “This is with concurrence of Tarishi’s father. The family will take the mortal remains to Ferozabad (UP),” she added.

Ms Swaraj said the country is with Tarishi’s family in this hour of grief and visa has been arranged for them.

Tarishi, a student at UC Berkeley, was on vacation in Dhaka. Her father runs a garment business in Bangladesh for the last 15-20 years.

She was also a recipient of an internship with a Bangladesh bank through the Institute for South Asia Studies at her university in California.