5 Bangladesh nationals including women arrested in Tripura 

Despite tight security along the India-Bangladesh border, the infiltration from the unrest that hit Bangladesh into Tripura continued and again on Sunday three more citizens of the neighbouring country were arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) from Agartala Railway station.

After unrest in Bangladesh, the infiltration into the Northeastern states especially in Tripura and Assam has continued and in the last few months hundreds of Bangladesh nationals along with Rohingyas were arrested by security forces from different borders of the state.

During the past one month, dozens of Bangladeshis, Rohingyas and human traffickers (Touts) were arrested from different parts of the state by security forces including from Agartala Railway station.

Giving details, officer-in-charge (OC) of GRP station of Agartala Railway station, Tapash Das said three illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were arrested from Agartala railway station before boarding a long-distance train towards Kolkata on Saturday evening.

He said that arrested women were identified as Kamrun Nisha (23) of Dhaka district and Md Ismail Hussain (22), residents of Bangladesh's Chittagong district and Mohammad Nur Hussain, were nabbed on Thursday when they were about to board a train to Kolkata.

He said that based on intelligence inputs, the GRP, district police, and the BSF apprehended them in a joint operation. During interrogation, they said that they entered India two days back without any valid document, and had plans to travel to Bangalore and Chennai via Kolkata, said Das and added that three smartphones, Indian currency notes and Bangladeshi voter ID cards were recovered from the possession of the accused Bangladeshi citizens. One of the women during questioning said that she was assured a job at a beauty parlour in Bangalore by a Bangladeshi human trafficker while the other two said they were promised jobs at juice bars in Chennai. The Bangladeshi citizens confessed during questioning that they had plans to go to Kolkata from Agartala Railway Station and from there further to Bangalore or Chennai.

An investigation is underway to identify those who helped them enter India, Das said and added that police has registered a specific case under sections of the Passports Act, the Foreigners Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and both arrested foreigners were produced before a local court on Sunday for further legal proceedings. He also said that all those involved in the case will be arrested and police launch another operation to arrest human traffickers involved with infiltration of Bangladeshi into Tripura’s territory.

In another incident, two Bangladeshi thieves were detained by villagers at Nandalal Das Para, in Simna Assembly constituency of West Tripura district on Sunday.

Despite the presence of the Border Security Force (BSF), villagers claim that Bangladeshi thieves continue to cut through the fencing and cross over with ease.

Following the directions from the Central government, vigil along the India-Bangladesh border was further tightened to prevent illegal immigration, cross-border crimes and movement by anti-national elements.

A BSF spokesman said that the para-military troops have enhanced vigil and intensified its domination along the International Border since the violence in Bangladesh began in June-July last year, specially after the fall of the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government on August 5, 2024.