India clears 27km stretch for BSF barbed-wire fence along Bangladesh frontier

West Bengal’s newly formed government has designated a 27-kilometre stretch of land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for the construction of a fence along the Bangladesh border, Press Trust of India (PTI) reports.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari disclosed the decision during a meeting held in Kolkata on Wednesday evening on land allocation for the installation of barbed-wire fencing along the Bangladesh border, it added.

The meeting was reportedly attended by BSF Director General Praveen Kumar and other senior officials.

He said more land would be provided wherever necessary to strengthen border management in the state, describing the move as the beginning of a broader initiative to enhance border security, according to PTI.

Suvendu also announced that state police would arrest and hand over infiltrators to the BSF “directly” as part of implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The chief minister added that a significant portion of West Bengal’s international border still remains unfenced.

This reflects a key election pledge by the Bharatiya Janata Party, which for the first time assumed office in the Indian state that shares more than half of West Bengal’s border with Bangladesh.

Out of the 4,096km border between the two nations, India has already fenced 3,240km.

West Bengal shares more than 2,200km of its border with Bangladesh.

Nearly 600km remains unfenced, according to Suvendu, who in his first cabinet meeting on May 11, said they will transfer land to the BSF to erect a fence along the Bangladesh border within 45 days.

Declaring a tougher policy on illegal immigration, he said the state has implemented a provision for the handover of the infiltrators, detained by police, to the BSF.

"A letter was sent by the centre to the state last year regarding the direct handover of infiltrators to the BSF, but the previous government failed to implement this important provision. We have now enforced it," he was quoted as saying.

Suvendu said those, who are not covered under the CAA, would be treated as infiltrators and action would be taken accordingly.

He said the state police will arrest them and hand them over to the BSF for subsequent deportation.

On Monday, India tightened citizenship rules for migrants from Bangladesh, Afghanistan or Pakistan under the CAA.