Shillong, August 11: The BSF on Tuesday claimed that Bangladesh police prevented over 12,000 agitators, protesting the proposed construction of Tipaimukh Dam at the tri-junction of Assam-Manipur-Mizoram, from marching towards the Indian border.
According to inputs received by BSF in Assam’s Karimganj district, which shares a porous border with the neighbouring country, Bangladesh police blocked the advance of the marchers about 10 km inside the border near Jakigonj in Sylhet district.
The ‘Long March’ undertaken by various Bangladeshi organisations, including the country’s main opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP), was kicked off in Dhaka on Saturday. The marchers were headed towards Sylhet in northeastern Bangladesh and then on to the Indian border, sources said.
The protesters were to reach the border in Sylhet district today. The district borders India’s Assam and Meghalaya states.
Bangladesh is protesting the project fearing that the dam would block the flow of Barak river, the main river flowing through the plains of Bangladesh to Bay of Bengal, causing catastrophic destruction in greater Sylhet area.
–Agencies