SHILLONG: Home Minister Roshan Warjri on Wednesday informed that a case had been registered against Bangladeshi miscreants for burning standing crops at Nongtrai village in East Khasi Hills District.
“We have also intimated the commandant of the BSF to instruct his men on the field to keep a close watch on such alleged crimes committed by miscreants,” Warjri said while replying to a call attention motion moved by Leader of Opposition Donkupar Roy in the Assembly on Wednesday.
Warjri also informed that as soon as the case had been registered, an inquiry into the case was immediately ordered and the report was awaited after which follow up action will be taken.
According to her, meetings of the district magistrates and deputy commissioners of both Bangladesh and Meghalaya were being held periodically and the most recent one was held on January 11, 2015.
Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition urged the state government to take all possible steps to prevent illegal entry of Bangladeshi nationals into the villages on the Indian side of the border and also asked the state government to provide financial compensation to the affected villagers whose crops had been destroyed.
According to him, this was not the first time that such incidents had occurred.
“In the past, hundreds of armed Bangladeshis had tried to enter Nongtrai village with the intention of attacking the villagers,” Roy alleged.
He lamented that no action was taken after the matter had been raised with the IG, BSF.
Expressing surprise at the BSF’s allegations that the local villagers had set fire to the crops themselves in order to burn the wild growth for Jhum cultivation, Roy said, “There is no Jhum cultivation in the area mentioned as people of the village are engaged in cultivation of areca nut and citrus fruits.”
He further questioned the reason behind the BSF trying to blame the local villagers on the incident.
Roy also maintained that people residing along the Indo-Bangla border will have to utilize local boys to take up ‘guns’, if the BSF failed in its duties to prevent illegal Bangladeshis from entering the Indian territory in Meghalaya.
