Kolkata, Aug 5 (IANS) An important meeting was held at the Bengal Sub Area headquarters of the Eastern Command on Wednesday between top officials of the Army and other agencies.
The joint “Intelligence, Security and Logistics Coordination Meeting” was attended by senior representatives from the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), West Bengal Police, Railways and other stakeholders, the Army’s Eastern Command said on Wednesday on social media platform X.
“The meeting focused on sharing intelligence and enhancing cooperation in security and logistics planning,” it also added.
According to sources, several important issues, related to security in the region, were discussed during the meeting. These included management of the border with Bangladesh and the challenges faced, both in the South Bengal and North Bengal Frontiers.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah was recently in West Bengal, where he reviewed the security along the India-Bangladesh Border (IBB).
There was special emphasis on defences along the borders on the strategic Siliguri Corridor that connects the Northeastern states to the rest of the country during this visit.
After coming to power in May this year, the new Bharatiya Janata Party government in West Bengal has cleared the allocation of land for border fencing and additional Border Outposts (BOPs) along the IBB.
“Several issues were discussed. The stress was on co-ordination and proper information and intelligence sharing. Logistics issues were also discussed, including the faster deployment of men and equipment during any contingency. Everybody present agreed that proper co-ordination is the key to effective management of any situation,” the source said.
While the BSF is in charge of management of the IBB, the CRPF gets deployed during any internal crisis.
The police, being the law enforcers also need to be a part of the co-ordinated approach.
Recently, the Special Task Force (STF) of the West Bengal Police arrested three persons with links to the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
Officials stressed on the need for continuous intelligence sharing between all agencies to ensure pre-emptive action.
They said that the co-ordination meeting was important as a certain amount of mistrust existed between state and Central agencies during the tenures of past governments in the state.
This was purely due to political reasons.
The Bengal Sub Area is the Local Military Authority and remains in contact with the state government on civil-military issues.
This formation is the one that provides assistance during natural calamities, accidents or extreme public disturbances.
Recently, Army units provided support during rescue operations at the site of a godown collapse in Kolkata’s Taratala.
–IANS
jg/khz
