New Delhi, Aug. 22 -- Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday directed all agencies concerned to increase their footprints in Siliguri corridor by establishing more of their institutions, keep it free of encroachments, and take all steps to stop illegal immigration in the region -- a 60 km long and 22 km wide area colloquially called as the 'Chicken Neck' which connects India's eight north-eastern states with the rest of the country.

He also urged the West Bengal government to strengthen the institution of Civil Defence and Home Guards in the Siliguri Corridor, a strategically important passage from the border security perspective, as the corridor wedges between Bangladesh to the south and the west, Tibet (China) to the north, and also...