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At seven in the morning, the sun was bright when reinforcements of the Border Security Force drove into Pyrdiwah village in bulletproof vehicles.
They swiftly moved into bunkers occupied by the Bangladesh Rifles.
A corridor was first created to reach out to the 32 trapped BSF personnel in the border outpost at the village. Food and other essential supplies was passed on to them.
Not a bullet was fired.
By 1600 hours IST, the Bangladesh Rifles had vacated the village they had occupied.
As soon as they moved in, the BSF jawans got a feeling that it was just a matter of time before the intruders would leave.
There was no resistance.
Said V K Gaur, Inspector General, BSF, in Shillong to rediff.com: "There was no need to fire. After all, Bangladesh is a friendly country and all it needed was persuasion."
Meghalaya's additional chief secretary said that it should not be made out that there was great heroism on the part of the BSF as the intruders had left. It was the Government of India, he said, which had ensured that they left as they worked on diplomatic and political pressure, he said.
Said Tayeng: "If they were heroes, the intruders would not have ever been able to enter our state and occupy a village."
Tayeng said that Meghalaya's problem was far from over. Said he: "Our main job now is to rehabilitate people -- physically and economically. There are 89 families who have been affected and it will take some time and money. Their properties have been looted. They have lost their cattle, pigs, corrugated roof sheets and valuables, as everything was plundered.
Now that the BDR had left, they will be able to survey the losses, he said.
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