Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh yesterday inaugurated an advanced electronic surveillance “smart fencing” system along a geographically-tough 61-km stretch of Assam's border with Bangladesh to tackle cross-border crimes and provide respite to BSF personnel from round-the-clock patrolling.

Riyazul Islam says he had to produce family documents going back to 1951 to prove he was an Indian and not an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant. But a draft list of citizens excludes him and his mother, among a total of about 4 million people left off.

The Indian government yesterday clarified that people whose names are not included in the final list of citizens residing in the northeastern state of Assam will not automatically be declared foreigners.

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) members guns down a Bangladeshi cattle trader inside the Indian territory opposite to Roumari border in Kurigram early today.

India is planning to deploy pontoon bridges, sluice gates and airships along its Assam border to prevent illegal entries of Bangladeshis into the country.