Dhaka unrest: Assam suspends trade, tightens border security

Guwahati: In the wake of unrest in Bangladesh, the lone Integrated Check Post (ICP) inAssam’s Karimganj District with the neighbouring country has been closed and trade has been suspended, officials said on Saturday.

Mridul Yadav, the District Commissioner of Karimganj, told IANS, “The Integrated Check Post (ICP) is situated in Sutarkandi area, 15 kms from the district headquarters. It was shut down five days ago, and all export-import temporarily halted. We have received orders only to allow Indian passport holders to cross over and come to India.”

The official said that after the unrest broke out in Bangladesh, at least 60 students left the neighbouring country and returned to India through Karimganj District’s Sutarkandi point.

According to Yadav, security measures have been heightened along the Bangladesh border in the district.

Karimganj shares a 93-km-long boundary with Bangladesh, and the district headquarters are separated from Bangladesh by the Kushiyara River.

“The river borders do not have fences; otherwise, the rest of the border in the Karimganj District is fenced. However, we have been maintaining strict vigil along the whole border. Apart from the Border Security Forces (BSF), one unit of the Army has been deployed to guard the border,” the District Commissioner said.

Coal and oranges have been regularly exported to Bangladesh using the Sutarkandi ICP. Soft drinks and other materials are imported from the neighbouring country through this route.

Meanwhile, an official of the exporter-importer association in Karimganj said that they have also decided to suspend business with Bangladesh until normalcy returns to the neighbouring country.

“Additionally, minorities have been subjected to violence in Bangladesh. We demand that the interim government take care of the minority population there. Our decision to suspend trade is a mark of protest against the atrocities faced by minorities in Bangladesh,” the official said.