The 577-km Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam and Meghalaya was porous but the force was successful in checking smuggling, trans-border crimes and influx of foreign nationals, BSF IG, Vijendra Singh Sirohi, said on the eve of the 34th Raising Day of the para military force to be celebrated on December 1.

Facing inhospitable conditions, rugged terrain and adverse climatic conditions the para military force, considered one of the largest in the world, was also deployed for counter insurgency operation along the Bhutan border and the disturbed districts of Barpeta and Bongaigaon in Assam, Sirohi in charge of the Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur frontiers, said.

"The demarcation between terrorists and smugglers was becoming thinner as both were aidingeach other with AK series weapons coming from South Asian countries," the BSF official said.

Claiming with only 15 battalions at his disposal the border was being effectively guarded by the force, Sirohi said, he would receive further support if additional forces were sent.

The BSF IG said the government had recently decided to move four of the 15 battalions of the para military force now deployed in counter insurgency operation in Assam to the disturbed areas of Manipur, including Churachandpur district.

He said during the last one year, the BSF at the Shillong frontier had seized more than Rs three crore worth of smuggled goods, while in counter insurgency operations in Assam the force had killed 15 militants and apprehended 358 others.

In addition to its work, the BSF made a significant achievement in motivating 11 activists of the Muslim security force to surrender along with arms and ammunition in July last, Sirohi said.

The force was quite effective in combating nefarious drug trafficking withseizure of nearly 3000 kg of ganja and other drugs worth more that Rs 21 lakh during the year specially on the Bangladesh-Meghalaya and the Indo-Myanmar border, he said.

Admitting that a large stretch of Indo-Myanmar boundary was left unmanned due to shortage of personnel, Sirohi said the BSF was also faced with the Herculean task of manning the 49.1 km long riverine border along river Brahmaputra with Bangladesh.

Through water crafts and floating border out posts, the BSF apprehended 174 illegal entrants and seized contraband items worth over Rs 50 lakh last year, he said.