Rapid fire with Major General Aziz Ahmed, Border Guard Bangladesh over cattle smuggling issue

India Today's Kamaljit Sandhu talks to Major General Aziz Ahmed, Director General, Border Guard Bangladesh about cattle smuggling at the border.

What measures have the Bangladesh forces taken to counter cattle smuggling?

At the outset I want to tell you and the Indians, I want to get rid of cattle smuggling. Bangladesh does not want Indian cattle. But we too have limitations. We share fifth largest border in the world with India and it is very porous. We don?'t have link road and border fencing while the Indian side has good roads. Even if I order my soldiers to stand hand in hand at the borders, we still cannot stop cattle smuggling.

How do cattle smugglers cross the international border despite two forces guarding it 24x7?

The cattle come in thousands through the many rivers Bangladesh shares with India. We cannot just stop it. We have certain areas where there is riverine and in some others there is no fence so cattle comes in. BGB and BSF do regular patrolling. But where there is no fence, is our weak point.

Many cattle smugglers have been gunned down by BSF. Why is this a concern for Bangladesh?

We are more concerned about killings at the border. We are not only one responsible. The cattle come from India. Our concern is our citizens getting killed because of this. It gives opportunity to vested interest to create a wedge between two forces. The killings are very high, and though it has come down from previous years, it is still very high.

Is there a concern that cattle smugglers could be hand in glove with terrorists close to the border areas?

That is right, not only do the cattle which move across borders but also smugglers. It gives very good scope for terrorist to go across the border. This is another reason why Bangladesh supports India in curbing cattle smuggling. It will help bringing down cattle smuggling and keeping terror at bay.

Also Read: Bangladeshi smuggler killed in BSF firing: officials