Hyderabad, July 19: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday chaired a high level meeting in Kolkata to review the law and order situation in West Bengal and assess security arrangements along the state’s international borders with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
Senior state officials, including Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal, Home Secretary Sanghamitra Ghosh, Director General of Police Siddh Nath Gupta and IGP (CID) N. R. Babu, attended the meeting.
During the meeting, Shah reviewed the state’s internal security and discussed measures to strengthen law enforcement. The review comes weeks after West Bengal enacted the West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti Social Activities Act, which expands the state’s powers to tackle organised crime, cybercrime, extortion, illegal mining and public disorder.
The Home Minister is on a three day visit to West Bengal.
On Saturday, Shah reviewed security arrangements along the India Bangladesh border in North Bengal. He also inaugurated Border Security Force (BSF) development projects worth Rs. 77.06 crore.
During his visit, Shah inspected advanced border surveillance technologies, including a radio based fence breach detection system that immediately alerts security personnel whenever the border fence is tampered with.
He also laid the foundation stone for three BSF infrastructure projects worth Rs. 47 crore and a four kilometre border fence project valued at Rs. 30 crore on newly acquired land for two BSF border outposts.
West Bengal shares a 2,217 kilometre international border with Bangladesh and also borders Nepal and Bhutan, making it one of India’s most strategically important frontier states.
In recent years, Shah has repeatedly raised concerns over infiltration, border security and law and order in West Bengal, particularly highlighting the challenges posed by unfenced stretches along the India Bangladesh border.
