Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Nov 22: With elections in sensitive State of Bihar over and process for formation of new Government completed, the BSF Headquarters have deployed additional forces along the International Border (IB) in Jammu sector to strengthen the border guards and Counter-Infiltration and Counter-Terrorism Grids along 192 kilometers international boundary from Lakhanpur, the gateway to Jammu and Kashmir, up to Akhnoor covering three districts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the BSF has got a shot in the arm with completion of Bihar elections and withdrawal of forces from there after formation of the Government as a good number of them have been deployed along the International Border in Jammu sector in view of enhanced threat from the militants, who have come close to the launching pads on Pakistan side, in an attempt to infiltrate into the Indian territory.
“The additional troops will now stay on the International Border in Jammu sector as no Assembly elections were due in the next few months. This will give added advantage to the BSF to effectively man the borders especially when fog would engulf the plains reducing the visibility to zero,’’ they said.
Pointing out that additional security personnel will prove to be of “immense use’’ during the winters, sources said the BSF was keeping heightened vigil with the help of more troops in the riverine belts, where there was either no fencing or part of it had been washed away or damaged.
“The BSF has started plugging the un-fenced areas like Nullahs and the places of damaged fencing by regular manual patrolling to ensure that the militants don’t manage to take advantage of unplugged gaps to infiltrate into the Indian territory from the international boundary,’’ sources said, adding this process, though practised earlier also, had gained momentum after arrival of reserve troops of the BSF from Bihar.
Sources said the reserve troops, which reached here from Bihar after performing election duty there, have been deployed all along the border from Lakhanpur to Akhnoor sector to strengthen positions of existing forces and keep more vigil on the infiltrators.
The BSF has reports that there was desperation among the militants camping across the International Border on their failure to infiltrate into this side. It was in view of this that the BSF was not taking any chances on the borders.
Sources said that in addition to deployment of more troops on the border, the BSF has already installed hi-tech system on the international boundary. The system installed on the border has been upgraded to such an extent that it will leave no scope for infiltration. However, even if the militants somehow managed to enter, they will be spotted and neutralized by the alert security personnel.
As already reported, the BSF has also decided to involve the people living in the border areas to identify the militants if they managed to breach sophisticated system and infiltrate into the Indian side.
The BSF has given several tips to the villagers at different places which would help them easily differentiate between security personnel and Rangers.
The BSF has also strengthened its communication and Intelligence system all along the border in Jammu sector, which would give boost to its efforts to ensure zero infiltration on the borders.
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