Due to the firing, five schools in the Muktapur area along the border were closed down as residents shifted to make-shift camps in fear, BSF officials said.

Bangladeshi locals, backed by BDR, today chased away some Indian villagers who went for cultivation in an “adverse possession land” held by India, creating panic among the inhabitants, the officials said.

The areas under adverse possession, 11 of them in Meghalaya sector, were created when the two countries demarcated the international boundary in the mid-1960s.

Yesterday, a DDG-level coordination meeting was held at Tamabil in Bangladesh in view of the tense situation.

“Various border problems, including those of land under adverse possession, were discussed. BDR agreed to maintain the status quo in all adverse possession areas. Both forces also agreed not to fire at each other,” BSF IG Prithvi Raj said in reference to the meeting which was also attended by BDR DDG Brig O Haque. The BSF has deployed two additional companies in the Muktapur area, putting the border outposts on maximum alert.

Meghalaya Chief Minister DD Lapang on Tuesday apprised Union Home Minister P Chidambaram of the plight of the people residing along the border areas following repeated incidents of firing by BDR.

On Sunday, BDR troops fired at three places along the Bangladesh border in Meghalaya, prompting BSF men to retaliate.

Heavy firing was reported on February 4 in Muktapur area between the border guards of both countries after an intrusion attempt by BDR. One BDR man was detained by BSF and later handed over to the authorities of the neighbouring country that night.

According to official records, currently there are 551.8 acres of Bangladeshi land under ‘adverse possession’ of India while 226.81 acres of Indian land is under ‘adverse possession’ of Bangladesh.