People and trucks wait on the Bangladesh side of the border at Benapole. (Pradip Sanyal)

Petrapole (North 24-Parganas), Feb. 26: For over five hours today, three passenger buses were all that passed through the border gates at Petrapole while at least 1,000 trucks waited on the Indian side alone.

Border Security Force and customs department officials refused to admit that the only land port between India and Bangladesh was “sealed”.

“There were no official orders to seal the border, so we cannot say that it was sealed,” a BSF commander said.

However, he conceded that all activities were suspended between 10am and 3.30pm. “Barring two direct passenger buses from our side and one from their side, there was no other exchange during these five hours,” the commander said.

It was business as usual when the gates on either side of the border opened at 6am. Trucks rolled in and out and people made their way past the gates.

Thirty-five trucks had passed till 10am when, suddenly, more than 30 BSF jawans came charging out of the 36 Border Outpost.

“It was such a scary situation. Suddenly, BSF jawans armed with rifles came charging out and took positions behind pillars, on rooftops and behind trees. They were shouting at everybody to back off. Passengers ran for cover and vehicles pulled back at least 1km from the outpost. A rumour that the Bangladesh army had taken over started doing the rounds,” said Sheikh Sufian Pintu who was waiting from customs clearance at Petrapole to return to Bangladesh.

After a while, a few BSF officials locked the gates leading to the stretch of no-man’s-land that separates the two countries.

Witnesses said that when officers of Bangladesh Rifles patrolling in Benapole on the other side of the border saw a flurry of activity unfolding here, they too moved into position and suspended all cross-border activities from their side.

The BSF jawans remained in their positions for about 40 minutes, after which they returned to the “ease” position. But they did not allow any civilians near the border fearing firing from the Bangladesh side.

The BSF had received word that BDR jawans had revolted and were fighting the army in many districts, including Jessore and Khulna, that fall within 50km of Benapole.

Around 3pm, BSF company commandant P. Talukdar and the assistant commissioner, customs and central excise, Bireshwar Pal, went to the no-man’s-land and invited their counterparts to talks.

A 15-minute conversation followed between the two sides before cross-border activities were restored to normal around 3.30pm.

At the meeting, the two sides charged each other with “unofficially sealing” the border outpost, but matters were resolved quickly and the gates opened.

Firdous Jahan, who was the first to cross over to India after the gates opened at 3.30pm, said she had been stranded at Benapole since 11am.

“Customs and immigration were closed. The BDR said India had closed its border,” said Jahan, a student of Dhaka University visiting India as a tourist.

“The condition in Bangladesh is very tense. Anything can happen at any time. Lots of people and vehicles are stuck at Benapole, waiting to cross over to India,” Jahan added.

More than 1,000 trucks, of which almost 40 per cent were carrying perishables such as fish and eggs, were stranded at the central warehouse of the customs department on the Indian side of the border during the five hours that the gates were closed.

Members of the Shimanta Paribahan Malik Samiti (an association of truck owners) said the trade suspension had resulted in a loss of more than Rs 10 crore.

“The goods could have reached the markets in Bangladesh tomorrow morning. But there has been a delay of one day now,” said joint secretary Paresh Mal.