Silchar: BSF personnel deployed vehicles and opened border gates on Thursday morning to help at least 70 families living across the barbed wire fence along the India-Bangladesh border in Assam’s Sribhoomi district to reach polling stations and cast their votes, making a strong claim of identity for the residents of Karimganj South assembly constituency. The voters are from five villages – Gabindapur, North Lafsail, Tesua, Deutoli and Maishashan – which lie outside the fence and are physically cut off from the Indian mainland. A local voter said, “BSF opened the gates early and helped us reach the polling stations in our vehicles. It was a big convenience.” After voting, BSF soldiers sent the villagers back home. The voter said, “We are sincere in voting because it reassures us that we are Indians and not just inhabitants of a forgotten land.” Sources said the BSF had also facilitated election campaigning ahead of polling by manning the border gates and allowing candidates and their supporters entry into these remote settlements near the Zero Line. The villages lie outside the fence due to the India-Bangladesh protocol, which prohibits permanent construction or fencing within 150 yards of the actual border. Residents of these settlements live under strict movement restrictions, with border gates usually closed from 7 pm to 6 am. “In case of an emergency, we are always there to help and transport them to the nearest city, even after scheduled hours,” said a BSF official. The government is working to rehabilitate villages located outside the fence in Sribhoomi. The district shares a 92 km long border with Bangladesh. In neighboring Cachar district, which has a 32-km border with Bangladesh, all the villages that once remained outside the fence have been rehabilitated within the barbed wire perimeter over the past few years. Now efforts are going on to relocate the families in Sribhoomi in a similar manner.