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Indian Border Security Force (BSF) warned Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) that it would shoot at any Bangladeshi national found anywhere in the disputed 220 acres of farmland on Indian territory at the Harinagar frontier.
The warning came amid reports that Bangladeshi farmers had attempted to cultivate land on the banks of the Surma River, an Indian newspaper reported Saturday.
The land had been the flash point of a gun battle between the two forces on August 9, which killed two Indians and five BDR-soldiers, after Bangladeshi troops allegedly pushed farmers into the area and shelled villages on the Cachar frontier. The incident was followed by a flag meeting on August 13.
Eyewitnesses said, no Bangladeshi citizen was seen on the area Friday after the BSF's warning.
A BSF official said, the plot lies outside the barbed wire border fence, where nearly 19 Indian families live. After the recent flare-up at Harinagar and Kinnokhal, these families at Natanpur fled to safer places, giving an opportunity to the Bangladeshis to usurp their land.
The BSF-BDR skirmish in the Cachar sector triggered an exodus of nearly 15,000 villagers from Harinagar and Kinnokhal. Most of them were huddled in relief shelters in Silchar and other safe areas away from the flash point.
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