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BSF did not take incursion seriously: Villagers

The Bangladesh Rifles, which has occupied Pyrdiwah village in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya since Monday, had struck on Sunday evening, destroying houses, chasing away the bewildered owners and ransacking property, residents of the village said.

Most of the villagers, who had never witnessed a border incursion before, took shelter in neighbouring villages while some took refuge in the forests nearby.

The villagers told a visiting group of reporters that the BDR personnel grabbed their personal belongings like clothes, food and utensils. There are around 1,200 people of 80 families in the village.

The headman, Phiju Nongrum, said the Border Security Force camp nearby did not take the incident seriously when the villagers informed them until the camp was surrounded and fired upon by the BDR. The BDR also built bunkers, pushing out the BSF from the outpost, and are still patrolling the area, the headman said.

The BSF's role has now been reduced to monitoring the BDR's movement about 50 yards away from the captured post.

Perhaps the BDR action was dictated by the construction of a footpath at Lyngkhat village near the international border by the BSF, Nongrum added.

The present boundary pillar was built at the village soon after the 1971 India-Pakistan war.

John F Kharshiing, spokesman of the Federation of Riwarmihngi Local Dorbars (a traditional institution), in a statement issued after visiting the village, criticised the government for failing to ensure the security of the people living on the border.

PTI

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