New Delhi, Sept. 24: The BSF will ask Bangladesh’s border force BGB to impose prohibitory orders at 23 stretches along the boundary with Bengal following increased attacks on the Indian paramilitary force since April.

The rise in such attacks, mainly by Bangladeshi smugglers, will be on top of the agenda when the directors-general of the two forces meet in Dhaka from Monday for a conference, the first major bilateral exchange since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit earlier this month.

A 20-member delegation led by BSF director-general Raman Srivastava will leave for Dhaka tomorrow.

BSF sources said the attacks on its personnel had increased by almost a half even as relations improved between the neighbours.

“We will ask Dhaka to issue prohibitory orders on their side from dusk to dawn just as we have issued on our side as the attacks have increased by at least 50 per cent,” a BSF source said.

BSF officers said smuggling was rampant in border areas in Malda, Behrampore and in the Sunderbans, and the Indian force, which has been using non-lethal weapons since March, was at the receiving end of attacks by criminal elements.

The BGB claims smuggling from India amounted to Taka 513.26 crore — approximately Rs 340 crore — till July. Till May, the BGB had arrested 512 smugglers.

Usually, it used to be the Bangladeshi border force that would complain about BSF atrocities on civilians. But the situation appears to have changed since March when Srivastava and BGB director-general Maj. Gen. Mohammed Rafiqul Islam agreed to reduce hostilities through various measures.

At that conference, Islam had raised the issue of BSF firing on innocent Bangladeshis and the death of a child.

Immediately after the March 8-13 conference, the BSF had restricted firing at the border. The force later agreed to use non-lethal weapons at the international border.

BSF officials now say smugglers have taken advantage of the knowledge that the Indian border force has only pump-action guns (which have only pellets) and stun grenades that explode without killing. In May, a BSF soldier was stabbed and killed by criminals.

Earlier this year, the two sides had signed an agreement on co-ordinated patrolling. During the talks beginning Monday, they are expected to finalise details about nodal officers in both forces and identify the areas where joint patrolling will be needed.

India wants to operationalise the agreement on joint patrolling by October-end. “We want a commitment from them this time,” said a government source. The Indian delegation includes officials from two ministries — one from foreign affairs and the other from the home ministry. The rest are from the BSF.