Despite the crackdown launched by the Government of Bangladesh, around 200 members of militant groups of the North East region of India are still taking shelter in the neighbouring country.
A list of the shelter points was handed over to Bangladesh during the recent meeting between the border guarding forces of the two countries, reports Assam Tribune.
Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told The Assam Tribune that the militants are not maintaining any full-fledged camp in Bangladesh but they have been maintaining at least 25 shelters, mostly in the areas like Khagrachari, Bandarband, Rangamati and Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).
Sources said that most of the militants staying in Bangladesh belong to the NLFT of Tripura. But other groups, like the United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent), PLA and UNLF of Manipur, NSCN (I-M) and National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB), are also maintaining shelters in the neighbouring country.
The Government is still not sure whether the NDFB members staying in Bangladesh belong to the Ranjan Daimary or Songbijit faction.
In the recent past, the NLFT took a few kidnapped persons to Bangladesh but the other militant groups are not indulging in any unlawful activity in that country.
As the militants are staying mostly in villages and do not move around with weapons, it is difficult for the security agencies of Bangladesh to nab them without specific information and the Government recently submitted a list of shelter points so that action can be taken on the basis of the same. Hardcore ULFA (I) militant Drishti Rajkhowa also shifts to Bangladesh from time to time.
Though the family members of Paresh Baruah are also living in Dhaka, the Government is not concerned on the issue of bringing them back to India and the only effort is to bring back ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia so that he can be involved in the peace process.
Meanwhile, sources said that Bangladesh is concerned about smuggling of psychotropic substances, like banned cough syrup, in large quantity from India, while India is concerned about cattle smuggling. It is believed that joint patrolling by the Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh in the vulnerable stretches of the international border would reduce the problem to a great extent.
Source: UNBConnect
