BSF finds mapping method

From The Telegraph - With satellite images, BDR promises to locate rebel camps

E.M. JOSE

ON GUARD Shillong, Oct. 1: India and Bangladesh have come a long way and this was evident at the recently concluded BSF-BDR meeting held in Dhaka. Unlike in the past, the BSF used the Global Positioning System (GPS) to pinpoint the whereabouts of the camps of Northeast insurgents in Bangladesh and handed over the details to the BDR during the meeting. In another departure from the past, the BDR assured the BSF delegation that they would try and locate these militant camps. “We have used the GPS method so that the BDR can help trace the camps more effectively,” the BSF IG, Assam-Meghalaya frontier, S.C. Saxena, told The Telegraph today. “In the past, we used to give the total number and locations of the camps of Northeast militants taking shelter in Bangladesh, enabling them to search within a km of a particular place where the camp is located,” he added. The new method of sharing GPS data with the BDR assumes significance in the context of the constant denial by the Bangladesh authorities in the past about the existence of the camps of Northeast militants in their country. They also denied allegations that Ulfa leaders were running hotels of international standard in that country and had rubbished as “nonsense” data furnished by the BSF on the bank accounts of Ulfa leaders there. Saxena, who was part of the director-general level meeting between the BSF and the BDR, said the BSF had handed over a list of the names and addresses of around 60 camps of Northeast insurgent groups taking shelter in Bangladesh with accurate specifications obtained from satellite. “The GPS method using satellite has the pin-pointed details about these camps and we have shared them with the BDR for their necessary action,” he said. The GPS can spot the camps more accurately by specifying the longitude and latitude. The IG said security forces use hand-held mobile phones which have GPS to gather satellite-based specific information about the whereabouts of militant camps. “We have cross-checked and verified the existence of Northeast militant camps in Bangladesh and we hope that security forces in Bangladesh will be able to act on the information,” Saxena said. He said unlike in the past, positive steps were being taken by the Bangladesh authorities as far as taking action against Indian insurgents in Bangladesh was concerned. Northeast militant groups like Ulfa, NDFB, NLFT, the All Tripura Tiger Force, NSCN(I-M), PLA, the Muslim United Liberation Front of Assam (Multa), KYKL, Prepak, UNLF and the HNLC have set up camps in the Bangladesh districts of Moulvi Bazar, Sherpur, Bandarban, Sylhet, Cox’s Bazar, Khagrachhari, Mymensingh, Rangamati, Sunamganj, Kurigram Tangil, Chittagong, Comilla and Jamalpur. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101002/jsp/northeast/story_13006215.jsp