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Kolkata: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will arrive in West Bengal’s Siliguri on the evening of Thursday, August 20, for a three-day visit to the state, during which he will attend programmes related to border security, interact with Sashastra Seema Bal personnel and chair review meetings, officials said.

Shah will arrive at Bagdogra airport from Chennai at around 8 pm and proceed to Sukna, where he will stay overnight, they said.

Shah’s visit assumes significance as the Siliguri corridor, commonly known as the “Chicken’s Neck”, is a strategically important stretch connecting the northeastern states with the rest of the country and lies close to the country’s borders with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

On Friday, the home minister will visit the SSB Frontier Headquarters in Siliguri, where he will attend foundation-laying ceremonies for various border security projects and interact with SSB personnel, the officials said.

He will also participate in a “Bara khana” with the jawans.

Shah will later attend a programme and a meeting on the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita exhibition at Kawakhali ground in Siliguri.

The three new criminal laws — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam — came into force on July 1, 2024, replacing the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Indian Evidence Act.

After the programme, Shah will return to Sukna and chair two review meetings, including one related to border security, officials said.

On Saturday, the home minister will hold two meetings before departing for New Delhi from Bagdogra airport.

The visit comes barely a month after Shah’s July tour of West Bengal, when he inspected a BSF outpost and laid the foundation stone for projects of the Border Security Force.