Agartala, Nov 13 (IANS) There was tension along the India-Bangladesh border in southern Tripura after Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) troopers threatened to open fire if labourers did not stop repair work on an Indian highway, officials said here Friday.
“The Public Works Department (PWD) labourers were working Thursday to repair a 100-year- old highway in southern Tripura, when BDR troopers asked them to stop the work. The BDR troopers threatened to open fire if the work was not stopped,” an official of the district administration said.

“The workers and PWD officials followed the BDR troopers’ firing threat and ran away from the spot,” the official told reporters.

Senior officials of the Tripura government and Border Security Forces have rushed to the spot, about 140 km from here, and have talked to senior BDR officials.

“The BDR officials categorically told the Indian officials that they would not allow the road repairs as some portion of the highway falls within 150-yards from the border,” the official added.

The Tripura government has communicated this to New Delhi and has asked it to take up the matter with Dhaka.

“We have earlier repaired this civilian highway (not border roads) on a number of occasions. Never have the Bangladeshi authorities or BDR stopped us from repairing the road,” said Tripura Finance Minister Badal Chowdhury.

This vital highway connects two important sub-divisions of south Tripura, Belonia and Sabroom.