Sheikh Hasina Quits: Mob Moves Towards India-Bangladesh Border, BSF on High Alert

Dhaka: Amid the political crisis in Bangladesh as Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled from the country, thousands of citizens in the country were heading towards the India-Bangladesh border. Taking note of the situation, the Border Security Force (BSF) has issued a high alert across five states which share borders with the country.     

The BSF guards the Indian front on the eastern flank of the country that runs along five states.

West Bengal shares a total of 2,217 kilometres of border with Bangladesh, along with Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Assam (262 km) and Mizoram (318 km).  

The Border Security Force (BSF) on Monday issued a "high alert" across all its formations along the 4,096-km India-Bangladesh border in the wake of the developments in the neighbouring country, officials said.

BSF director general (acting) Daljit Singh Chawdhary and other senior commanders have landed in Kolkata to review the security situation, they said.   

PM Hasina Resigns

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on Monday, ending 15 years in power, following the unrest in the South Asian country. The Bangladesh PM landed in Agartala later in the evening.

The force has directed all its field commanders to be "on ground" and "deploy all personnel on border duty immediately", a senior officer said. 

The leaves of all the personnel posted along the Bangladesh border were cancelled in the last few weeks after Bangladesh witnessed massive protests and now all units have been asked to "acquire an all alert posture", he said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left the official residence in Dhaka after violence erupted. Her current whereabouts are unknown. The situation in Dhaka is highly sensitive, and the Prime Minister's residence is under siege by a mob."

The protests began peacefully in late June, as students sought an end to a quota system for government jobs, but turned violent after clashes between protesters and police and pro-government activists at Dhaka University.In fresh unrest, nearly 100 people were killed as the protesters clashed with security officials and the ruling party activists across the country.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday resigned and left the country, several news reports said, amid massive protests against her government that claimed more than 106 lives in the last two days.