Unfenced border turns smugglers’ paradise in Tripura

A Correspondent

Agartala : Though the progress of erecting barbed wire fencing along the state’s 850 km border with Bangladesh is satisfactory and 90 percent of the border is fenced, the small incomplete patches in different parts of the state has become a major point of headache for the security forces.

Apart from general crime and anti-social activities these patches has become target of all smuggling groups that smuggles commodities beginning from narcotics to many other essentials.

Reports coming from Sonamura, Sabroom and Dharmanagar where the three most vulnerable incomplete patches of the state situated suggests how the smuggling groups are outwitting the security forces and continuing their business.

A five km long unfenced patch from Doulbari to Baishnabpur in Subroom has become main corridor for smuggling in South Tripura and a large number of local people are being used by the smugglers as carrier. They are being lured by the smugglers in exchange of commission.

Sources said large number of cow is being smuggled through this route every day. This route is specially favorite for the smugglers of Narcotic items like Brown Sugar, Heroin etc as Subroom is close to Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh which is the head quarter of many International narcotic smugglers.

In North Tripura fencing work in over five and half KM border remain incomplete in Yeaqub Nagar and Brajendra Nagar under Dharmanagar Sub-division and in Bhandarima area of Kanchanpur Sub-division.

These routes are specially used by the smugglers who smuggles Brown Sugar, Heroin and different kind of narcotic tablets from Mayanmar to Bangladesh. However, the district police have recently stepped up activities against these smuggling operations after the Chief Minister announced zero tolerance policy against the narcotics and recovered narcotics worth more than Rs six crores and arrested 16 persons involved in smuggling.

Sonamura is always a favorite route for the cow smugglers apart from many other items. This border is also largely used for human trafficking. Recently several cases have been detected when Rohingiya refugees were being trafficked through Sonamura.