The East Jaintia Hills district administration is in touch with the Border Security Force (BSF) to work on enhancing security along the Indo-Bangladesh border after a farmer was murdered by miscreants.
Additional Deputy Commissioner, G. Warjri and Superintendent of Police, Giri Prasad said police will coordinate with the BSF to ensure that the border villagers are safe and to carry out farming with no hindrance.
Warjri said the BSF will soon conduct a flag meeting with the Border Guard of Bangladesh to ensure that no such incident is repeated. He said the issue will also be taken up with the government.
Prasad informed that an FIR has been lodged and investigation is on. He said police from the Umkiang patrolling post has been asked to maintain constant vigil and to coordinate with the BSF.
Residents of the village said the villagers are living under constant threat and the murder has instilled a new fear along the international border.
On January 6 Sylvanus, aka Chiang Dhar was killed while protecting his areca nut trees at Lamasaki, around half a kilometre from the nearest BSF camp.
According to residents, Dhar, a resident of Umkiang, was murdered by suspected Bangladeshi nationals while protecting his crop. The farm was a frequent target of cross border looters, villagers claimed.
Dhar, attacked by a group of men armed with sharp weapons, had been accompanied by one Rahul Pohtam, who managed to escape with his life.