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Onkar Singh in New Delhi
The director general of Border Security Force, Gurbachan Jagat, will be visiting the Indo-Bangladesh border on Friday to take stock of the situation. He would be visiting both Boraibari in Assam and Pyrdiwah in Meghalaya.
Talking to rediff.com, Jagat said the situation in Pyrdiwah was under control. The Indian security forces have broken the Bangladesh Rifles' cordon and are now positioned near the border outpost taken over by the BDR on the night of April 15.
According to him, three battalion strength of the BDR moved in in the middle of the night and captured the village. He confirmed that five BSF men have lost their lives while two have been captured by the BDR and flown to Dhaka. "I am anxious to know the fate of the rest of the men and am in constant touch with the IG, Shillong, V K Gaur, on a minute to minute basis. This morning the flag and sector level meetings were held between the officers of the BDR and the BSF. We are hopeful that the situation will ease but there is intermittent firing taking place in Boraibari between the two sides."
Jagat refused to comment on the alleged intelligence failure which led to the situation, saying that it was for the home ministry to look at the situation. "The BDR is holding on to 300 sq miles of Indian territory which is under dispute since 1971."
Jagat said, "When my counterpart, Maj Gen Fazlur Rehman, visited India this matter was discussed and it was decided that it would be sorted out through mutual consultations. Hence, the sudden provocation by the BDR is beyond our comprehension."
"We have been monitoring the situation and exercising restraint. We hope the issue will be soon sorted out and peace will be restored on the border," Jagat added. "Efforts are being made at the government level and we foresee that the BDR will vacate Pyrdiwah by tomorrow evening.
"I have been keeping the home minister posted on the situation on phone and the secretary, home, Kamal Pandey is also holding top level meetings to discuss the latest situation," Jagat told rediff.com.
PTI adds: Bangladesh on Thursday informed India that it would hand over five bodies of BSF soldiers killed by its armed forces in Boraibari in Assam.
Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) 'has informed us that five bodies of BSF personnel will be handed over. Ten other BSF men are missing," BSF Director General Gurbachan Jagat said.
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