'ISI shifts bases from Afghanistan to Bangladesh'

GUWAHATI: After having suffered major setbacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan''s ISI was now reinforcing its operation in Bangladesh to carry out their operations in India, senior Army and police officers have said here.
Talking to Times News Network, a top intelligence official of the Assam Police said on conditions of anonymity, "after 9/11, the ISI had to close their Kabul chapter and re-deploy their machinery elsewhere under US pressure."
Moreover, he added, increased vigil on the Indo-Pakistan border and change of guard in Bangladesh reinforced ISI''s decision to set up bases in Bangladesh.
The official said that the presence of a large number of militants from the North East region in Bangladesh only made things easier for the ISI. The meeting of a top Pakistani army official with ULFA and other militants in Bangladesh during President Pervez Musharraf''s visit here helped speed up their operations.
One of the ISI officials who played a major role in arranging the meeting is still reported to be in Dhaka "on a political assignment".
Top intelligence officials of Assam Police said that a feeling of alienation had only made matters easier for the ISI-backed people.
A senior officer of the Army''s Red Horn Division said, "if one looks at the increase in militant activities of KLO and their tie-up with organisations like ULFA, one does not need any proof of ISI increasing their activities in Bangladesh."
He further said that the population pattern around the Bangladesh border, the terrain and lack of identity cards for the Indians in this region helped the ISI in making this region a safe passage to other parts of India.