PARADIP: THE recent detention of crew members of West Bengal-based boat and alleged frequent infiltration by Bangladeshi nationals into the coastal villages of Jagatsinghpur district have exposed the lapses of coastal security agencies and State police.
Sources said a West Bengal-based vessel with 13 crew members was detained at the single mooring system of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) on Paradip coast. A floating pipeline of IOCL was destroyed by the vessel as it entered the highly sensitive area. The matter was informed to Paradip Port Trust (PPT) by CISF following which PPT deputy conservator Atulya Kumar Mohapatra sought the police’s intervention to ascertain the identities of the crew members.
Jatadhari marine police station IIC Bharat Chandra Behera said in the absence of driver, the vessel was being steered by the helper who entered the single mooring system of IOCL by mistake. “A fine of `697 was collected from the crew members. The 13 crew members, including the driver, Santosh Pati, were later released on PR bond,” he informed.
Such incidents have raised doubts about the efficiency of security agencies in checking infiltration. The coast of Odisha is secured by three-tier patrolling system. While the outermost layer is manned by Indian Navy patrol vessels and aerial reconnaissance aircraft, the intermediate layer comprising the Exclusive Economic Zone (between 12 and 200 nautical miles) is patrolled by the Indian Coast Guard. Joint teams with personnel drawn from Customs and State Marine police patrol the territorial waters to check influx of infiltrators. Though coastal exercises like Operation Hamla, Operation Gauntlet and Operation Rakshak along with other security drills are conducted regularly in the Bay of Bengal, it does not seem to have addressed the issue of influx of infiltrators into the coastal villages of the district.
In 2016, a Bangladeshi national, Khokan Seikh, was arrested for staying in Paradip illegally for two years. Khokan was arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) and it was found that he was staying in the port city by changing his name and without a valid passport. He was booked under Section 14 of Foreigners’ Act. Similarly, in 2013, about 15 Bangladeshi fishermen, arrested by Paradip police, were sentenced to two years of imprisonment by SDJM, Jagatsinghpur for fishing illegally in Indian waters.In 2011, two Bangladeshi crew members of a vessel were arrested for smuggling in Indian waters. They were holding dual passports of both India and Bangladesh which were seized from them.