BSF secures Chicken’s Neck with new design fencing amid unrest in Bangladesh

Amid high alert along the India-Bangladesh frontier, owing to the civil unrest in the neighbouring nation, the BSF has installed newly designed border fencing system in almost 75 per cent of the strategically significant Chicken’s Neck (also called the Siliguri corridor) region, according to highly placed sources. The upgraded 12-feet-high new design fencing (NDF) has been erected in the sensitive region, backed with powerful cameras and enhanced area domination plans, the BSF officials said.

They said it takes several minutes to cut the new fence, while it was also difficult to climb, owing to its height. These measures would help in cutting down infiltration attempts and also incidents of cattle smuggling.

A top BSF official said lots of efforts were being made to secure the Chicken’s Neck region, which borders Bangladesh, and therefore the new design fencing (NDF) has been erected in 75 per cent of the region. As part of these efforts, pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras have been installed along the border, which provide live feeds for rapid response and support efforts to create a “smart border” with technology and manpower.

Additionally, domination plans have also undergone changes. As per the new plans, the BSF targets areas from where cattle are collected and brought near the border for smuggling. Officials said the BSF personnel even retreat several kilometres within the Indian territory to raid these areas so that cattle smuggling can be curbed.

The BSF has also started a new community-centred project aimed at discouraging Indian villagers from engaging in border crimes, in connivance with Bangladeshi touts and smugglers.

Personnel from the border guarding force visit homes of suspect smugglers and touts and try and make their families aware of the consequences of such actions. These confidence-building measures have played a major role in bringing down cattle smuggling and human trafficking incidents in the past one year, the BSF sources said.

Officials said that in the recent past, several Bangladeshis who entered India illegally, but inadvertently, were also handed back to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), but only after a thorough background check. Their fingerprints and personal details were also shared with the authorities for verification of any criminal or anti-national records.

Since January 2025, the BSF has seized cattle, gold, silver, wildlife, arms, ammunition and other contraband worth around Rs 8.5 crore. A total of 440 Bangladeshis — including touts and smugglers — and 152 Indians, as well as 11 others, were apprehended. Of them, 187 Bangladeshis were handed over to BGB.

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Courtesy: The Tribune -06-Jan-2026