The Border Security Force of South Bengal Frontier arrested a smuggler with 10 gold biscuits worth over Rs 60 lakhs, informed officials on Wednesday.

Dinajpur (West Bengal) [India], September 8 (ANI): The Border Security Force (BSF) shot dead an alleged smuggler in West Bengal's North Dinajpur district during an encounter on the Indo-Bangladesh border, officials said on Thursday.

Shillong Apr 26 PTI India and Bangladesh have jointly agreed to open two more border haats in Meghalaya Ryngku and Nalikata - next month officials said on Tuesday The number of such marketplaces will increase to four in the northeastern state when the two facilities will be made operationalRyngku border haat in East Khasi Hills district will open on May 12 and Nalikata in South West Khasi Hills on May 16 the officials saidAuthorities in both the countries have also reopened a border haat at Balat in Meghalayas East Khasi Hills after a gap of two years owing to COVID-19 restrictionsThe Joint Border Haat Management Committee decided to reopen this in a meeting held on April 19 an official said India and Bangladesh have seven established border haats and nine more are in the pipeline he saidThese border haats are marketplaces that have been established to enable local residents on both sides to market and consume their produceThe initiative is adding new dimensions to establish people-to-people connectionsAccording to studies and on-ground reviews border haats have created employment opportunities for the local community especially for women and youth who have emerged as providers of various services such as transporters vendors workers and food stall ownersAt these markets locally produced agricultural and horticultural products minor forest produce dry fish items of cottage industry handloom and handicrafts and wooden furniture are allowed to be sold PTI JOP BDC BDC

Shillong Mar 24 PTI A huge cache of ammunition was recovered close to the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalayas South West Khasi Hills district a police officer said on ThursdayActing on tip off the BSF and the Meghalaya Police launched a search operation in a dense forest in Gumaghat area along a brook that flows from India to Bangladesh and recovered the ammunition hidden in a cavity surrounded by lime stones the officer saidThe cache found wrapped in a white sack contained 92 rounds of 556mm ammunition 129 rounds of 762mm and 160 rounds of 9mm ammunition the officer statedThe seized ammunition found at a distance of 900 metres from the border has been handed over to the police in Gumaghat he said adding an FIR has been lodged in the case PTI JOP RMS RMS

New Delhi [India], March 7 (ANI): Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Security Advisor Major General (Retd.) Tarique Ahmed Siddique called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and thanked him for strengthening the Indo-Bangla friendship and standing firmly with Bangladesh in times of crisis, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

Agartala (Tripura) [India], February 24 (ANI): In what can be termed as a conscious effort to woo investment in Tripura, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Wednesday invited top garment industry figures of Bangladesh to invest in the state to avail special subsidies being offered by the Indian government in the Special Economic Zone.

Agartala Feb 18 PTI An Indo-Bangla joint technical meeting on Friday has primarily agreed to allow a water treatment plant at Sabroom in South Tripura district one of the key pending projects of the state on Friday officials said The water treatment plant which is considered a strategic facility for the people of Sabroom civic body has been pending due to opposition from Bangladesh since 2012 they said Bangladesh has been objecting to the 2832 litre per second water treatment plant at Sabroom town as it will collect water from Feni river which flows from Sabroom to Bangladesh Besides the Bangladesh Border Guards BGB has also opposed it as the site for the plant is very close to the Indo-Bangla border the officials said Today a local level Indo-Bangla joint technical committee had a meeting at Dhulbari in which there was an elaborate discussion on the water treatment plant to find an amicable solution The Bangladesh side headed by the chief engineer of Bangladesh Water Board Chittagong Ramjan Ali Pramanik primarily agreed to allow the project said Subrata Debbarma the Sabroom sub-division officer of Tripura water resource department He said the Bangladesh side also insisted that the water treatment plant when it comes up should be 10 m away from the barbed wire fencing and 25 m away from the river The Bangladesh side assured that they will take up the issue with the higher ups and let the Tripura water resource department know about its decision at the earliest he added District magistrate of Tripura South district Saju Vaheed led the Indian delegation in the meeting PTI PS KK KK KK

Agartala (Tripura) [India], February 10 (ANI): Tripura Cricket Association praised local leg spinner Amit Ali, who got shortlisted for the mega auction of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.

Tripura [India], February 3 (ANI): Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, along with Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, laid the foundation stone for the third Indo-Bangla border haat at Kamalpur under Dhalai district on Thursday. The border haat will be known as Kamalpur-Kumraghat border haat.

New Delhi Jan 24 PTI The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to a prime accused in a multi-crore cattle smuggling racket operating on the Indo-Bangladesh border in alleged collusion with officials of Border Security Force and customsA bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Dinesh Maheshwari allowed the appeal against the Calcutta High Court order by which it had dismissed a bail plea of Mohd Enamul Haque alleged to be the kingpin of cattle smuggling racketThe bench said having due regard to the nature of allegations the offence involved and the maximum sentence the continued detention of the appellant who has suffered custody of over a year and two months is not warranted In the circumstances we order and direct that the appellant Haque shall be released on bail subject to such terms and conditions as may be opposed by the special judge CBI at Asansol Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi appearing for CBI opposed the bail plea and supported the judgement of the High Court saying that the prior involvement of Haque in a case at Kochi would indicate that he is habituated to committing similar offences arising out of the smuggling of cattle across the porous Indo-Bangladesh border There are serious allegations against him of having exploited the conditions at the border and therefore indicate national security threat though the appellant was permitted to travel abroad in terms of the conditions which are imposed by the competent court at Thiruvananthapuram by granting bail the appellant evaded the lookout circular which was issued against him by entering through land frontier through West Bengal he said Lekhi added that the investigation is still pending involving the complicity of BSF officials and it would be inappropriate to grant bail to him He added that the High Court has for justifiable reason declined to grant bail on the ground of parity due to the fact the appellant was the main perpetrator on whose behest the conspiracy was hatched and the bribe was paidSenior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Haque submitted that he was in custody since November 6 2020 and the submission of the charge sheet and supplementary charge sheet after investigation renders the accused in custody unnecessarilyHe submits that all the other accused save and except for the appellant has been enlarged on bail and bail has also been granted to the commandant of the BSF who is alleged to have accepted the bribe He added that all the offences of which Haque is charged are of the maximum sentence of seven years and there is a wider issue involved on the CBI jurisdiction to investigate the offences upon the withdrawal of consent by the state of West BengalThe bench said Having heard the rival submissions we are of the considered opinion that the continued detention of the appellant in custody is not warranted in the facts of the present caseIt noted that Haque has already been granted default bail by the special judge CBI at Kochi in May 2018 In the regular case out of which the present appeal arises from the denial of bail to the applicant the appellant was arrested and is in custody since November 6 2020 The charge sheet has been submitted on February 6 2021 and supplementary charge sheet on February 23 2021 it notedNoting the facts of the case the bench said that on January 31 2018 the CBI has registered a case against him in Kochi and the allegations against him were that the commandant of 83 battalion of Border Security Force BSF in Roshanbagh in Murshidabad West Bengal had accepted illegal gratification for rendering favour to alleged smugglers of cattle on the Indo-Bangladesh border which had resulted in the seizure of Rs 4530 lakh in currency notes when the commandant disembarked in Alleppey railway station in Kerala It noted that on March 4 2018 Haque was arrested in connection with the case registered in Kochi from Kolkata and was produced before the court in Thiruvananthapuram on March 7 2018 Though the appellant was denied bail on March 21 2018 by the special judge CBI court in Thiruvananthapuram he was granted default bail on May 7 2018 the bench said and added that in the meantime on April 6 2018 the CBI registered a Preliminary Enquiry PE against another commandant of 36 battalion of the BSF in which Haque was again named The allegation in the fresh case was that cattle were sent from India to Bangladesh in large numbers by payment of illegal gratification to BSF personnel It has been alleged that between December 2015 and April 2017 there was the seizure of cattle but immediately thereafter auctions were held and traders including the petitioner or his nominees procured them at a lower price by paying bribes to BSF and custom officials the bench notedIt further said that allegation was also made that an amount of Rs 1280 crore representing the payment of a bribe to the commandant of the 36th battalion of the BSF came to be deposited in a joint account On September 21 2020 a fresh case was registered against Haque under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the IPC while in the proceedings arising in the case at Kochi he was permitted to travel to UAE and thereafter to other countries by various orders of the court PTI MNL MNL RKS RKS