New Delhi, May 27: Alarmed over reports threatening terror strikes on the high commission in Dhaka, India has forwarded a proposal to Bangladesh requesting deployment of a Sashastra Seema Bal ( SSB) team to protect its diplomats.
Official sources said the letter was sent on April 7 by the high commission in Dhaka to Bangladesh’s foreign ministry following intelligence reports that the mission and other Indian establishments could be targeted by terror groups.
The Bangladesh government, it has been learnt, has responded positively to India’s proposal and is considering the request. Currently, only the US and UK embassies have deployed their own security teams.
A decision in this regard by the highest echelons of the Sheikh Hasina government is expected soon, Bangladesh’s leading Bengali Daily Prothom Alo reported on Monday, quoting official sources.
Bangladesh officials said Dhaka has no role to play in the internal security of high commissions.
The home ministry will consider the proposal for approval after the foreign ministry forwards the letter.
The SSB guards the Indo- Nepal and Indo- Bhutan borders and shares a historic link with Bangladesh having trained the ‘ Mukti Bahini’ ( freedom fighters) during the 1971 India- Pakistan war. It may be recalled that last November, Bangladesh sleuths arrested a group of three HuJI and LeT terrorists, foiling a plan to target the US embassy.
The nabbed terrorists also had plans to target the Indian high commission located in Dhaka’s Gulshan locality — a posh area of the city. All the three were arrested from Chittagong on intelligence inputs obtained from FBI. Following these arrests, security was beefed up at the Indian mission.
New Delhi has also forwarded a proposal for posting sky marshals on airlines flying between Indian cities and Dhaka. A communication was sent to the Hasina government towards the end of last year and again at the beginning of this year.
—Agencies