12 more B'desh nationals held in Tripura for illegally entering India

Infiltration from the unrest-hit Bangladesh remained unabated as 12 more Bangladeshi nationals and a child were apprehended by the Border Security Force (BSF) in Tripura on Saturday for illegally entering India, officials said.

A BSF spokesman said that a Mobile Check Post was laid near Agartala railway station and nine Bangladeshi nationals were also detained.

During questioning, the Bangladeshi citizens said that they were planning to move to Kolkata for permanent settlement in India.

According to the spokesman, in a separate operation, BSF troops of Belonia in South Tripura detained four women and two children along the Muhuri river, which passed through the India-Bangladesh border dividing the two countries.

Of the four detainees, three women and a child are Bangladeshi and one woman and a child are Indian.

The Bangladeshi nationals are residents of Chandpur district while the Indian woman belongs to the south Tripura district and they know each other.

Over the last three-and-a-half months, around 435 Bangladeshi nationals and more than 55 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.

The spokesman said that the BSF has stepped up domination and operation along the India-Bangladesh border and in the state to prevent infiltration and exfiltration and trans-border crime.

On Thursday, eight more Bangladeshi nationals, including two women were arrested from different places in Tripura for illegally entering India.

Two Indian touts were also arrested by the BSF on October 24 to facilitate the illegal entry of Bangladeshi nationals into India.

Though the majority of the Bangladeshi citizens illegally entered Tripura and arrested by the security forces were Muslims, there were Hindus also among the detainees.

A BSF spokesman said that since the unrest in Bangladesh, the BSF has further beefed up security along the 856 km India-Bangladesh border with Tripura to prevent illegal cross-border movement of people and crimes.

The Rohingyas illegally entered India after fleeing their camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar where more than one million displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar have been living since 2017.

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