Dhaka: The border forces of India and Bangladesh will meet here tomorrow to discuss a series of issues including preventing smuggling and improving law and order in the border areas.
At the five-day director general level border conference, to be held at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters here, both BDR and BSF will also exchange the lists of criminals hiding in India and Bangladesh, sources said.
A 20-member Border Security Force delegation led by its Director General Raman Srivastava arrived here this afternoon to attend the conference. BDR Director General Major General M Rafiqul Islam will lead a 22- member Bangladesh delegation to the border conference.
Senior officials of BDR, ministries of home, foreign and land and joint river commission have been included in the Bangladeshi delegation. The Indian delegation includes officials of the BSF headquarters, frontier IG and officials of the Home and
External Affairs ministries of India.
"The conference will mainly focus on two issues-- preventing drug smuggling and human trafficking and improving law and order in the border areas," BDR DG Maj Gen Md Rafiqul Islam told journalists.
Regarding frequent shooting incidents in the border areas, Islam said, "We will propose to impose section 144 after the evening hours in some specific areas to restrict people`s movement.It will improve the law and order in bordering areas."
"We have prepared a list of wanted criminals who are suspected to have been hiding in neighbouring countries. The list has been prepared in cooperation with different
law-enforcing and intelligence agencies," he said adding that BSF and BDR will exchange such lists and hold a discussion on the issue.
At the conference, Dhaka will also raise the issue of alleged killing and wounding of civilians at the border, BDR sources said.
Issues of adversely possessed land, construction of illegal structures and alleged "abductions" will also come up for discussion. The conference will conclude on September 27 through the signing of Joint Record of Discussions (JRD), the sources
said.
PTI
