The situation remained tense at the Dahagram border at Patgram in Lalmonirhat as the Indian Border Guard Force did not respond to the Bangladesh Border Guard's call to hold a flag rally over the barbed wire fence till Saturday evening.
The BSF, with the help of 30 to 35 people, erected a four-foot-high barbed wire fence on a stretch of about one and a half kilometers at the zero line on Friday morning. The situation was tense because the BGB protested against it.
Senior officials of the BSF and BGB visited the border area on Saturday morning as authorities from both sides increased troop deployment along the border, locals and BGB officials in the district said.
Golam Rabbani, member of the Dahagram Union Parishad, said that the BSF had illegally started constructing the barbed wire fence at the zero line of the border.
“If India does not remove the barbed wire fence from the zero line, we will start a movement,” he said.
BGB Battalion 51 Deputy Director Amir Khasru said the BSF did not respond to BGB's calls for a flag meeting on the issue.
“The situation is normal.” We have deployed additional BGB members at borders. “We have urged the population to remain vigilant,” Amir said.
He said they are trying to resolve the issue as soon as possible in consultation with the higher authorities concerned.
Since the last week of December 2024, tensions have been increasing along the Indian border over construction of fences.
The Bangladesh Border Guard has protested against the Indian Border Guard Force's installation of iron electric poles and an electric device at the zero line along the border at Patgram in Lalmonirhat.
The BGB protested on Wednesday.
Later in the day, BGB and BSF held a policy meeting on the issue.
Tension prevailed among villagers in Chapainawabganj as the BSF again started building fences along the border at Shibganj on Wednesday while deploying additional forces on both sides of the border.
The Indian Border Guard Forces later stopped the construction when the BGB intervened.
On December 29, BSF members from Sabdalpur BSF camp in Gopalganj police area of India's Malda district started building a barbed wire fence along the border.
BGB members on Wednesday also stopped the BSF's attempts to erect barbed wire fences on no man's land in Dhamoirhat in Naogaon.
International law does not allow the installation of such infrastructure within 150 meters of no man's land.