Pahalgam attack: Meghalaya tightens security along Bangladesh border

Two days after the Pahalgam terror attack, the Meghalaya government on Thursday asked security agencies to intensify vigilance along the 443-km-long international border with Bangladesh, officials said. 

Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, currently in New Delhi en route to the Vatican for the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, is closely monitoring the state’s security apparatus and has called for heightened collaboration with the Border Security Force (BSF), they added.

"The Chief Minister, who had condemned the heinous terrorist attack, is closely monitoring the international border in Meghalaya and has sought close coordination between security agencies in the state," a senior home department official told PTI. Director General of Police.

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Nongrang has been directed to maintain close coordination with the BSF and other security forces to ensure effective border security, the official added. 

About 20 per cent of Meghalaya’s border with Bangladesh remains unfenced due to difficult terrain, including rivers and other waterbodies. 

In a statement, the BSF in Meghalaya said it has apprehended 78 Bangladeshi nationals who crossed the border without valid travel documents, along with six touts who were facilitating their illegal entry into India, so far this year.