BSF chief promises steps to stop Bangladesh frontier casualties

India today said that measures were being worked out with Bangladesh to bring down to "zero-level" casualties on the porous border between the two countries as Dhaka pledged not to allow Indian insurgents to operate from its soil.

After a four-day conference, U K Bansal, Director-General of Border Security Force (BSF), told reporters "casualties on the frontier will be brought down to zero-level". He said steps had already been taken to cut down casualties on the border.

The crucial biennial conference of the frontier forces of the two countries came in the backdrop of Dhaka acceding to India's long-standing demand to hand over imprisoned ULFA leader Anup Chetia.

"... the procedure (to repatriate Chetia) is underway," Bangladesh Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir had said on Thursday.

Close on the heels of the decision to hand over the ULFA leader, the BSF chief said India had given specific information about anti-India insurgent camps in Bangladesh and added that Dhaka had dismantled some of these hideouts in operations.

The conference focused on checking smuggling and narcotics, restricting the development of infrastructure within 150 yards of the zero-line and New Delhi's assertions that Dhaka take action to check travel to India of its citizens without proper documentation.

Major General Anwar Hussain, head of Bangladesh Border Guards who addressed the news conference jointly with Bansal said his country was committed not to allow Indian insurgents to operate from its land and wanted New Delhi to reciprocate by not allowing Bangladeshi criminals to take refuge in India. (MORE) PTI AR KUN NES AKD WAJ 09291732 NNNN