Amit Shah orders illegal border buildings removed within 15km
Home Minister Amit Shah has asked for all illegal buildings within 15km of India's borders to be torn down.
He gave this order while visiting the Bikaner border in Rajasthan, saying there will be zero tolerance for anything that could help infiltration, smuggling, or cross-border crime.
Shah also called on the Border Security Force (BSF) to keep a sharper eye on these areas.
BSF 50km jurisdiction cannot prosecute
Shah highlighted how important the BSF is for keeping borders safe.
In 2021, their jurisdiction was expanded from 15km to 50km in states like Punjab, West Bengal, and Assam to tackle new threats like drone smuggling.
But even with more ground to cover, the BSF cannot prosecute cases itself (it has to hand things over to state police), which slows things down and makes coordination tough.