Agartala: Now it seems that intruders from Bangladesh have chosen the North Eastern State Tripura as their favourite destination for infiltration.
Hundreds of Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals have been apprehended by security agencies in the State in the recent past, but the infiltration has not stopped yet.
In a significant operation conducted by Tripura police based on an intelligence report, as many as seven Bangladeshi nationals were apprehended in Dharmanagar under North Tripura District. The arrested Bangladeshi group included two men, two women, and three children. Interestingly, the arrested Bangladeshi group were on their way to Bangladesh from the Indian city of Bengaluru via Tripura. Police sources said that the Bangladeshi nationals were working in Bengaluru and had been residing there since 2020 after illegally entering Indian territory.
The arrests were made when the Humsafar Express train arrived in Dharmanagar on August 7. Based on intelligence input, the police acted swiftly to arrest the Bangladeshi nationals from the Rajbari area. The arrested Bangladeshi intruders were identified as Karta Mohammad, Liton Sheikh and his wife Fatema Begum, hailing from Bangladesh’s Ratodanga region. The other individuals were identified as Mohammad Mamun Rashid, his wife Aziza Begum, who were originally from Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
Police sources said that the group entered Indian territory in 2020 in the Dharmanagar area through Kailashahar of Unakoti district of Tripura. An Indian broker helped the group by providing fake Indian IDs such as Voter Cards, Aadhar Cards etc. and also arranged travelling documents to Bengaluru for the group. The group then travelled to Bengaluru from Tripura by train and worked there for three years. The group came back to Tripura with an intention to cross the border to enter Bangladesh with the help of a local broker. However, their plans were thwarted when the police received information about their presence in the area. The Tripura police swiftly acted and apprehended the illegal intruders, including three minors. The Dharmanagar police station has initiated a specific case against the arrested seven Bangladeshi citizens.
The police, in their investigation, found that illegal infiltration is on in the State, and a huge network is active in India to facilitate these intruders by providing them with fake Indian IDs, travel arrangements, and even providing jobs in the larger cities. The police stated that the arrested individuals will be presented before the Dharmanagar court on August 8, and police will ask for their custody for further investigation.
On June 9 this year, five Bangladeshi nationals were arrested from the Bengaluru-bound Humsafar Express at Dharmanagar railway station in North Tripura district. Police said that the five arrested admitted that they crossed the international border through the Amtali area of Bangladesh. They confessed to having paid Rs 20,000 each to an Indian broker Rafiqul for being taken to Bengaluru. The arrested Bangladeshi were identified as Rafiqul Islam, Shafiqul Islam, Shahab Ali Sheikh, Mumtaz Aqtar, and Rozina Begum.
According to the Government data placed in the State assembly, a total of 7535 people were caught between 2017 to 2019 in Tripura for illegally entering the State, mostly from Bangladesh. The numbers have significantly reduced, but still a huge number of Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims enter Indian territory via Tripura and vanish in larger Indian cities using fake Indian IDs and documents.
