KOLKATA: Reacting to the objection raised by West Bengal government to extending the BSF's jurisdiction from 15 to 50 km from the Bangladesh border, the ADG of the paramilitary force, YB Khurania, said the agency has limited powers and no authority to intervene in the state's law and order affairs. He also said the allegation that BSF personnel harassed women in the name of searching was very unfortunate.
"We don’t interfere in the state's law and order affairs. We don't have the power to file FIRs. We focus on smuggling and infiltration. We maintain a good relation with the state police and exchange information with them. The notification (increasing jurisdiction) doesn’t give additional power to the BSF," he said.
Khurania said that the BSF would continue to function in the 50 km jurisdiction in the same way as it had functioned in the earlier jurisdiction.
Refuting the TMC government's allegation of women being harassed by the BSF personnel, Khurania said, "This (claim) is unfortunate and baseless. We have more than 4,000 women staff and soldiers. CCTVs are installed at all entry points of the border area."