Smuggling thru' Rajshahi border points goes up
Smuggling through the Rajshahi border points have increased considerably due to laxness of border guards in the last few days, said people in the bordering villages.
Indian drugs including heroin and phensidyl and clothes are entering the country through the borders in huge quantity, they said.
“One has to cross the Padma River twice to go to the Indian border at Char Majardia. There are at least 10 boats at ferry points for carrying smuggled items,” said a villager.
While going to the village at daytime, this correspondent saw some 11 boats at the first ghat (ferry point) on the Padma and 14 boats at the next ghat but only one boat in each ghat was engaged in carrying villagers across the river.
Villagers said smugglers use the other boats only during the night.
Similar picture is available also at other Padma ghats toward the Indian borders including Sonaikandi, Khar Chaka, Bidirpur and Char Asariadaha.
Five BDR men were seen on duty at Char Majardia BDR camp. Asked about the boats, Havildar Daud Hossain said those boats are used during the rainy season. He denied smugglers' activity on the border.
“A section of border guards were always helpful to us. Now anxious about their fate after the incident in Dhaka, many of them are staying inside their camps,” a smuggler told this correspondent during the latter's visit to Godagari.
Mansur Ali, a member of Char Asariadaha union parishad, said Indian villagers with the help of Indian BSF members are taking away crops and grass from Bangladesh fields on Manik Chalk border areas.
“Anti-smuggling operations have almost become ineffective,” he said in a tone of disappointment.
BOP officials at different borders claimed they returned to their duties as before. “Smugglers have no scope to be active as Indian BSF are on high alert following Bangladesh incident”, said a BOP official.
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