The Border Guard Bangladesh has protested at the Indian Border Security Force installing iron electric poles and an electric device on the zero line along the border at Patgram in Lalmonirhat.

The BGB issued the protest on Wednesday.

Later, on the day, the BGB and the BSF held a flag meeting over the issue, said BGB 61 Battalion commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Sheikh Muhammad Musahid Masum.

On Tuesday midnight, the BSF installed the iron electric poles and electric device on the zero line, he said.

BSF 98 Battalion members in Cooch Behar of West Bengal in India installed the electric poles and electrical equipment on the India-Bangladesh border at the sub-pillar number 2 of the main pillar number 829, which is 50 yards within the zero line of the Gatiarvita border at Patgram union.

The international law does not allow installing any such infrastructure within 150 yards of the no-man’s land.

On Wednesday morning, farmers had noticed the matter and informed the BGB about it and the BGB had sent a letter to the BSF for the flag meeting.

A company commander-level flag meeting was held at the border point in the evening on the day.

The BGB urged the BSF to abide by international border laws regarding the zero line.

The BSF later removed the installed equipment and poles.

BGB 61 Battalion commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Sheikh Muhammad Musahid Masum said that the BSF informed them that they had installed the poles and device to contain various types of damage in tea gardens.

‘We have clearly stated that there is no scope for constructing any establishment within the zero line as per international laws and agreements,’ he said, adding that the BSF had removed the constructed structures following the flag meeting.

In Chapainawabganj, tension had gripped local villagers as the BSF on Wednesday again began constructing fence along the border at Shibganj upazila amid deployment of additional forces on both sides of the border.

The Indian border force later stopped the construction as the BGB intervened.

Earlier on Sunday morning, BSF members from the Sabdalpur BSF camp in the Gopalganj police jurisdiction in India’s Malda district began constructing a barbed wire fence along the border adjacent to border pillars 177/1S, 2S, and 3S.

BGB members on Wednesday also halted the BSF’s attempts to erect barbed wire fences on the no-man’s land at Dhamoirhat in Naogaon.