Militants follow tusker trail to cross Indo-Bangla border

SHILLONG: Militants in Meghalaya are following routes used by herds of wild elephants to cross the international border between the state and Bangladesh and avoiding security forces. This "new trend" was detected by the Border Security Force (BSF) recently in the most difficult terrains along the 190-km stretch of unfenced border in the Garo Hills.

Sudesh Kumar, inspector general of the BSF (Meghalya-Assam Frontier), said several militant outfits, including the anti-talk faction of the Ulfa, NDFB and others, used the local population as guides while following elephants that move about freely across the international border. "The locals as well as the militants know that the security forces will not come in the way of the pachyderms and so they take advantage to move in and out of the country using the routes taken by them," Kumar said. "The locals guide the militants by trailing the herds," he added.

Admitting that movement of militants through the 'elephant corridor' decreased the efficiency of the force, the Kumar pointed out that the security forces had to avoid the elephants as part of the tradition to ensure that there was no man-animal conflict in the region. He added that this was the primary reason why militants use the elephant corridors to their advantage. Kumar also referred to three elephant attacks on his men in the past few months, even as he advocated a mechanism that would not disturb elephant movement and also ensure security along the frontiers.

Asked on the movements of Assam-based militant groups from the Garo Hills, Kumar admitted that the area was still vulnerable. "Only 40-odd km stretch of the international border in the Garo Hills has been fenced and it is the unfenced stretch that militants usw," he said.

However, in spite of the constraints, Kumar claimed that the alternative strategies of "patrolling, ambush, mobile checkings and enhanced intelligence gatherings" have yielded results in the recent past. He cited cases related to apprehension of half a dozen NDFB and Multa cadres in the past four months. Moreover, an additional battalion was deployed in Garo Hills to add teeth to the four BSF battalions presently guarding the 229-km stretch of the border in the three sensitive districts prone to militant activities.