DHAKA: Home Minister Sahara Khatun Sunday asked the paramilitary BDR and coastguards to act more carefully in protecting the border as she said India fenced off the frontier and sometimes BSF soldiers try to trespass into Bangladesh.

The instructions came from a press briefing after a meeting of the national smuggling-prevention committee at her office.

Home Minister Sahara told the journalists that most of the time smugglers use trains for their cross-border trade, as railway in many places passes by the border with the next-door neighbor.

“Sometimes train drivers stop trains at many undesignated places besides the stations. So, authorities concerned are armed with orders not to let trains halt in indefinite places,” she said.

She also said the government is thinking about amending the Narcotic Control Act to effectively prevent smuggling. “I have already ordered the authorities concerned to finish the disposal of smuggling cases rapidly applying the Mobile Court Act.”

State Minister for Home Affairs Shamsul Haque Tuku, Cabinet Secretary Md. Abdul Aziz, Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Shikder, IG of police Noor Mohammad, Director-General of BDR Maj. General Rafiqul Islam and officials concerned of the law-enforcing agencies were present at the meeting.

BDST: 3:56 Hrs, May 30,2010
UB/SA/MMA/MUA