NEW DELHI: With intelligence inputs emerging from Bangladesh on a possible terror threat in India, forces were directed to strengthen the security grid across land, air and water routes linked to the neighbouring country, which has been witnessing extremist activities amid political instability, sources said on Saturday.
Sources said that after the intelligence inputs were shared with the government, a high-level security review meeting was held earlier this month. Top officials of central and state forces were instructed to tighten the security grid, with special focus on travel routes connected to Bangladesh.
Intelligence agencies have highlighted the rising activities of the banned terror group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), citing a recent public rally in Dhaka where the group openly displayed its flags and expressed support for Hamas amid the ongoing Gaza conflict.
Recently the JMB’s Pakistan link was released in a operation by the West Bengal Police, three individuals connected to the outfit were arrested, further investigations indicated they were active on the direction of handlers based in India’s western neighbour, the sources said.
According to the sources, the Border Security Force (BSF), which guards India’s borders with Bangladesh, has begun the process of restructuring its deployment plan. It has stepped up patrols in prone regions, specifically in West Bengal, where porous borders are frequently exploited for infiltration, they added.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and local Police have been asked to heighten surveillance in and around airports in the region – West Bengal and North East – where flights from Bangladesh land. Instructions have been issued for increased checks and passenger scrutiny, they added.
Terming these measures as precautionary based on actionable intelligence inputs about radicalised individuals’ movements in border areas, the sources said, as diplomatic outreach intensifies and security dynamics evolve, India is resolute in its efforts in reinforcing its eastern flank against emerging threats.