BSF Apprehends Five Bangladeshi Nationals in Tripura

Agartala: Since the unrest in Bangladesh, the infiltration into the northeastern states, especially in Tripura and Assam, has continued as five more citizens of the neighbouring country, including a tout, were arrested by the BSF on Saturday, officials said.

A BSF spokesman said that on specific information, border guarding troops of BOP Kamalasagar under Sepahijala District apprehended four Bangladeshi nationals while they were trying to enter Indian territory by negotiating the border fence. Three of the four detainees are residents of the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, while the Bangladeshi tout, who was also arrested along with the three intruders, is a resident of Kasba, an area just along the India-Bangladesh border opposite to Sepahijala District.

 The Bangladeshi Tout often facilitates illegal infiltrators, the spokesman said.

In another operation, BSF troops of BOP Samrupara under Unakoti District apprehended a Bangladeshi national while he was trying to infiltrate Indian territory.

The apprehended Bangladeshi national is a resident of the Netrakona district of Bangladesh.

The spokesman said that alert troops of BSF in different operations foiled various attempts of trans-border smuggling along the India-Bangladesh border, rescued 12 cattle, and seized 900 kg of sugar and other contraband worth Rs 3 lakh. On Friday, the BSF apprehended two Rohingyas from a bus stand in the Karbook area in southern Tripura.

According to BSF officials, both the apprehended Rohingya illegal migrants are inmates of the Rohingya refugee camp located in Cox Bazar in southeast Bangladesh. BSF has enhanced the surveillance along the border to prevent trans-border crime and infiltration, he stated.

Over the last three and a half months, over 445 Bangladeshi nationals and over 60 Rohingyas were arrested by the Government Railway Police, BSF, and Tripura Police from the Agartala railway station and various other places in Tripura after they illegally entered India.

In Guwahati, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that in the last two months, police have detected 138 infiltrators and pushed them to Bangladesh.

"But one thing I must again repeat is that contrary to the expectation that Hindus would come inside India because of the instability in Bangladesh, we are finding that Bangladeshi Muslims and Rohingya Muslims are coming into our country. So, I think first, the perception about Hindu-Bengali is wrong," Sarma told the media.

Both the Bangladeshi nationals and the Rohingyas told the Indian security officials that they illegally entered India in search of jobs and shelter. (IANS)

Also Read: Tripura: Amid Unrest, India-Bangladesh Traders Join ‘Border Haat’

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