'Elephant corridors are still safe passage for extremists'

FROM OUR STAFF CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG, Feb 13: The elephant corridors of Meghalaya are still a trail for the extremists, divulged the outgoing Inspector General of the BSF (Meghalaya Frontier) Sudesh Kumar during an interaction with The Sentinel.

The extremists use the elephant trails to evade the security agencies, on most count following behind the herds of elephants that moves from South Garo Hills district to Bangladesh.

This came to the knowledge of the BSF way back in 2012. The experience in the unfenced and rough terrains of Garo Hills prompted the BSF higher ups to propose an elephant corridor. The corridor is to have established guarding that can prevent the movement of extremists in the trail. “The matter is still lying with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), but enough of ground work has been done to ensure that the elephants don’t loose their habitat and the extremists don’t use the passage as a safe trail,” stated Kumar.

He said that the militants are still using the elephant trail by taking advantage of the poor visibility factor and the unfenced porous border.

The outgoing Inspector General of the BSF even said that the proposals to have outpost in the elephant trails have been initiated. “We are there to protect the tiol borders and so is our commitment to protect the habitats of the animals with no physical borders,” stated Sudesh Kumar.

It may be mentioned that there are around 1000 elephants that moves in between Garo Hills and Bangladesh.