New Delhi, April 24, 2005 (Express News Service)

The BSF today asked the IAF to investigate an alleged violation of Indian airspace by a Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) helicopter in Tripura and accused the neighbouring country’s Army of patrolling the Assam border in BDR uniform.

According to BSF Director General R.S. Mooshahary, BSF personnel saw a BDR helicopter flying over Chotakhil in the Sabroom sub-division of Tripura and also in Magrum and Beltoli areas along the international border on Friday.

“The helicopter was seen a few hundred metres inside Indian airspace. We have passed on this information to the IAF for investigation,’’ he said.

The latest charge comes a week after BSF assistant commandent Jeevan Kumar was allegedly abducted, tortured and killed by BDR troops near the Lankamura border checkpost.

Meanwhile, an official from the BSF’s Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland (AMMN) Frontier, headquartered in Shillong, told PTI that the Bangladesh Army in ‘‘BDR uniform’’ was patrolling the border along Assam’s Dhubri area.

“The BDR is deploying extra force in the Dhubri sector. And actually the Army, clad in BDR uniform, is patrolling the border,” the official said.

However, there was no report of any untoward incident in the Dhubri sector or any other part of the 557-km long Bangladesh border in Assam and Meghalaya that this Frontier guards, the official said.