India puts eastern, northeastern states on high alert following Dhaka terror attack

The terror attack at a cafe in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka Friday night has created a panic in India's eastern state of West Bengal and some northeast states.

International borders with Bangladesh were sealed Saturday by India's Border Security Force (BSF) and several states were put on high alert by Home Ministry.

All state administrations and police were directed by the Intelligence Bureau and the National Investigation Agency, which deals with terrorism in India, to beef up security in view of the long porous border with Bangladesh.

• The BSF's patrolling was intensified using speed boats in the riverine areas adjacent to the Bangladesh border all over India.

The BSF have been conducting search operations in all the villages in the border districts along with the police. Senior BSF officials held series of meetings with district police chiefs to initiate measures to prevent possible infiltration of terrorists.

The Kolkata Police have also carried out searches in hotels in central part of the city where large number of Bangladeshis usually stay and also asked five-star hotels to beef up security.

Special force personnel in plainclothes were deployed at all landmark spots such as Writers' Buildings (chief minister's residence-office), the Calcutta Stock Exchange, Victoria Memorial and all western countries' consulates in the city.

• Security at the Kolkata international airport and Haldia ports at the Hooghly river was increased by the security forces.

West Bengal state and the northeast state Assam have been long time plagued with the problem of infiltration of Bangladesh Islamic militants.

The security agencies are concerned as several Bangladeshi terrorist groups might try to sneak in after a crackdown by Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion against them following Friday's Dhaka attack, in which at least 20 civilians were killed by terrorists.

Among the dead was a 19-year-old Indian student Tarushi Jain.

Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of Muslim population in east and north east India are apprehending a backlash and communal riots following the attack.

All states in this region of India have geared up to prevent such communal riots between Hindus and Muslims and security intensified in sensitive areas in these states.

Possible attacks by terror groups like the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and Ansarullah B Team are also a big concern of authorities here.

Over the past one and half years, several terrorists from Bangladesh have been snatched by Indian security agents in West Bengal.

• Moreover, to this eastern Indian metropolis, Saatkhira, one of Islamic militant strongholds in Bangladesh, is only an hour's drive from the border.

The militants from Bangladesh were also blamed for fanning communal riots in the northeast state Assam.

In June 2014, armed militants sailed through the border rivers and massacred ethnic Bodo tribes in the state.
 [Xinhua -globaltimes.cn]
3/7/16
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