Kolkata, April 13 (IANS) The Border Security Force (BSF) foiled attempts to smuggle a single-shotter country-made pistol and 22 kg of Ganja across the Indo-Bangladesh Border (IBB) in separate incidents in the North 24-Parganas and Nadia districts of West Bengal on Saturday.
“Troops of the 32 Bn BSF, posted at the Tungi Border Outpost in the Nadia district spotted a group of 5-6 people moving suspiciously towards the International Border (IB) around 5.55 a.m. on Saturday. On being challenged, the group fled back towards India.
“The jawans gave chase but the criminals succeeded in giving them the slip due to low visibility and waterlogging. A thorough search led to the seizure of a plastic packet containing a country-made single shotter. This was being smuggled to Bangladesh,” the spokesperson for the BSF’s South Bengal Frontier said.
A senior BSF official said that attempts of cross-border smuggling of weapons at a time when mob violence is being reported from Bangladesh daily is a matter of concern. Such weapons, whether country-made or sophisticated, could be used by criminals across the border against innocents.
“On the same day, troops of the 102 Bn BSF, posted at the Kaijuri (Kalyani) Border Outpost and personnel of the 32 Bn from the Horandipur Border Outpost in North 24-Parganas seized 22 kg of Ganja.
“Again, the smugglers took advantage of the darkness and uneven terrain to escape. The seized weapon and Ganja have been handed over to the concerned enforcement agencies for further legal action,” the spokesperson added.
According to him, the intelligence department of BSF is working to find out who is behind the smuggling attempt of the seized weapon.
He also said that stopping such types of smuggling has been possible only due to the vigilance displayed by the troopers deployed along the porous and challenging border.
–IANS
jayanta/pgh