Agartala: A second line of defence has been formed along the 856-km-long international border that Tripura shares with Bangladesh to prevent the entry of ultras into the country, a top Tripura police officer said on Thursday.
"BSF is guarding the border, but we have also created the second line of defence so that the insurgents from Bangladesh cannot enter into our territory. The Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and Assam Rifles have created this second line of defence," Director General of Police (DGP) Tripura, C Balasubramanium said.
Even as the security forces in Bangladesh have taken pro-active actions against ultras using their soil, 15 camps of outlawed insurgent outfits still exist there, the Tripura police chief said, adding the camps are makeshift in nature.
These camps are in Chittagong Hill Tracts and in Sylhet region of the neighbouring country which are hilly and the terrains making it further difficult to fully combat them, he said.
"The Bangladesh government is sincere against the ultras, but as the election bell is ringing attention may be diverted," Balasubramanium said.
Four groups of outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) are active in 11 police station areas of West Tripura and Dhalai district bordering Sylhet and CHT region, he said.
On the chances of revival of three decade old insurgency in Tripura, the DGP said it was basically due to backwardness and unemployment problems, but huge development work has been undertaken and stringent security measures were adopted to stop the menace.
