Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, Thursday accused the federal security forces of enabling infiltration from neighbouring Bangladesh. Taking aim at the Border Security Force (BSF), which directly reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mamata said the security force was working to destabilise the state under a "nefarious blueprint" of the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Advertisment

"The BSF is allowing infiltration from different areas into Bengal and torturing women. The TMC is not guarding the borders. The border is not in our hands, so if someone accuses the TMC of permitting infiltration, I will point out that it is the BSF's responsibility," Mamata said.

Notably, the BSF is responsible for guarding India’s frontiers, including the porous India-Bangladesh border.

Mamata’s remarks come weeks after India’s Home Minister Amit Shah blamed "infiltration from Bangladesh" for ‘disruption of peace’ in the state. Illegal immigration into state from Bangladesh has been a major flashpoint between the national ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Mamata’s TMC party for long.

Advertisment

The West Bengal CM further added that she would order an investigation and instruct the Director General of Police (DGP) to track where the BSF was “allowing” infiltration from.

 "The police have all the information, and the Centre has it too. I have received information from Rajiv Kumar (DGP) and local sources. I will write a strong letter to the Centre regarding this,” the CM added.

Mamata said she had no grudges against the people from Bangladesh but “goons are being allowed here.” “They commit crimes and return across the border. BSF is enabling this, and the Centre has a role in it," the TMC chief said. She warned the central government of “protests” if anyone tries to fuel terror activities in the region.

Advertisment

(With inputs from agencies)