Kohima/Aizawl, Aug 10
Three northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland -- have intensified their security in view of the turmoil in Bangladesh though they do not share boundaries with the volatile neighbours.
Four of the eight northeastern states -- Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Mizoram (318 km) and Assam (263 km) -- share 1,880 km border with Bangladesh, which have already taken a series of measures along with the Border Security Force (BSF) in view of the violence, unrest, and recent political developments in Bangladesh.
Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland share 1,133 km unfenced border with Myanmar.
An official in Kohima said on Saturday that Nagaland has tightened security and sounded an alert to prevent illegal immigration from Bangladesh.
Nagaland Home Commissioner Vyasan R. said that the deputy commissioners of all the 16 districts across the state have been instructed to activate security coordination in their respective areas and intensify ILP (Inner Line Permit) checking with surprise inspections.
Vyasan said the state has very strong Village Councils (VCs) and the deputy commissioners have advised to coordinate with them to report any unusual movement or incident.
Meetings with the concerned officials of Assam government have also been initiated for early warnings, he added.
In Manipur, anticipating an influx of people from Bangladesh, night curfew has been clamped in two districts -- Pherzawl and Jiribam -- for an indefinite period.
In a directive, the Joint Secretary in the Home Department said, "Strict precautionary measures need to be taken to prevent influx of illegal migrants."
Arunachal Pradesh has also launched a drive against 'outsiders', especially the foreign nationals. In the past two days, the police have identified 155 persons who violated ILP regulations in the Itanagar area.
The state government has urged people to cooperate with the police to identify and report the illegal entrants.
An Inner Line Permit (ILP) is an official travel document that allows Indian citizens to visit or stay in protected areas for a limited time. The ILP system is in place in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur.