Agartala: Ministry of Home Affairs has deployed 26 female constables most from Maharashtra for five sensitive Indo-Bangladesh border points of Tripura ahead of access gates in wire fencing and roads.
According to BSF Spokesperson of Tripura Frontier B S Rawat, 40 more female personnel are expected to be reported in the frontier by next month. “We have been facing serious problem in frisking of the women in some particular locations of Belonia, Bishalgarh, Agartala, Khowai and Kailashahar where ladies are regularly crossing the border gates outside the fence for cultivation of agricultural land,” Rawat said.
All of them were sent to four weeks compulsory training to the respective units before resuming duty at the border outposts to facilitate the cross border movement of women folks like Punjab and South Bengal frontier.
Tripura has about 17 border outposts where as many as 19,000 Indian citizens including women have farmland ahead of wire fencing along Indo-Bangladesh border and everyday these people have been crossing the border.
“Frisking of women at designated gates to allow them to go out of fencing for cultivation becomes a serious problem because of non-availability of female guards; and as a result, sometimes a section woman are being mobilized by their male counterparts in illegal trade,” a BSF official said. He however, pointed out Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier deployed female constables in Punjab frontier and recently at border outposts in West Bengal along India-Bangladesh border.
The proposed female contingent of BSF would be trained for patrolling, frisking and interrogating local women just like other forces; he said adding that females were frequently cross the border to visit their agriculture filed and now BSF unable to frisk, interrogate and question the women.
And BSF was in need of women personnel as it was impossible to detain women for physical checks. The initial recruits have the rank of a constable.
Based on their performance, the BSF will decide whether to induct more women personnel for the border surveillance and inspection duties.
However, he maintained that the completion of the recruitment process would take a few months.
Smugglers in Tripura have adopted new strategy of trade by employing women and children for the purpose taking the advantage of deployment of BSF men on the border. (UNI)
