BORDER guarding forces deployed along the front with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and other neighbouring countries have been directed to keep a check on “illegal encroachments” and possible suspicious activities in their area of operation that may pose a security threat to the nation, official sources said on Tuesday.

 

The issue was discussed and a plan of action was finalised during a ‘Chintan Shivir’ of IPS officers working in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and National Security Guard (NSG) that was held here on Monday under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Sources privy to the meeting told PTI that the top brass and other senior commanders of these forces were asked to keep a strict vigil against any illegal encroachment taking place in their respective areas of operations. In case a suspect installation or facility is detected, central agencies like the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) should be “immediately” informed, they said. The State authorities concerned like district administration, police and intelligence setup should also be made aware about these activities and it should be ensured that any nefarious structure, the sources said.

 

The senior officers of these forces like the BSF, ITBP, SSB, CRPF and CISF, apart from the NSG, were asked to ensure “strict compliance” on this subject, they said. The Border Security Force guards Indian fronts with Pakistan and Bangladesh, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police is the designated frontier guarding force along the Chinese Line of Actual Control. These forces, as part of their Intelligence gathering exercise, have earlier reported about suspicious warehouses, godowns and religious centres coming up close to the border and have expressed concerns about their activities, a senior CAPF officer said. The Central Reserve Police Force, the Central Industrial Security Force and the National Security Guard too have permanent and temporary bases across the length and breadth of the country.