By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The situation along the Indo-Bangladesh border continues to remain tense following the death of two Bangladeshi intruders who were allegedly shot dead by angry Khasi villagers on Friday last.
An appeal made by the authorities to the villagers to closely work in tandem with both the police and the BSF personnel to prevent any kind of untoward incident has also not been able to ease the situation so far.
It may be mentioned that the appeal from the authorities has come as an attempt to ensure that peace is maintained along the Indo-Bangladesh border keeping in view Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s proposed visit to Bangladesh in September.
The Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) had held an emergent flag meeting on Saturday to take stock of the situation. The BSF, who clarified to the BGB that they were not responsible for the firing which led to the death of the two Bangladeshis, had also asked the BGB to take measures to prevent infiltrators from crossing over to the Indian side of the border.
Meanwhile, sources mentioned that local villagers, who shot dead the intruders, were forced to take this drastic step after the Bangladeshis refused to heed repeated warnings given by the villagers to abstain from stealing boulders from Kasmar River near Hat Thymmai village in East Khasi Hills.
It is reported that the Village Defence Party of the various villages in areas like Hat Thymmai, Pyrdiwah and Lyngkhat, have since, intensified patrolling to protect the villages from any possible retaliatory attack by Bangladeshis.