18 Bangladeshi Nationals Arrested in Guwahati for Illegal Border Crossing

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Reflecting the severity of the problem of Bangladeshis crossing over to India illegally, at least 18 people from the neighbouring country have been arrested from various parts of the city in the last 24 hours for illegal border crossing. While five Bangladeshi nationals were nabbed from a train in the state capital on Tuesday, 13 more were arrested from a hotel on Wednesday.

According to the police, during a routine survey/checking of coaches in Guwahati Railway Station, Border Police personnel apprehended five illegal infiltrators - four women and one man - from general coach No. 1 of Lokamanya Tilak Express (no. 15648) that was scheduled to depart from Guwahati to Lokamanya Tilak Terminus, Maharashtra at 3 pm.

Three Aadhaar cards were found in their possession, out of which one was genuine.

The woman who possessed the genuine Aadhaar card had come earlier also and got married to someone in Gujarat as revealed during interrogation.

During preliminary enquiry, it was revealed that they were intending to travel to Mumbai by train in search of work.

The police claimed that all of them had entered India illegally without possessing any valid documents and confessed themselves to be Bangladeshi nationals.

They belong from Dhaka, Bogura, Rajbari, Narial, and Jamalpur districts of Bangladesh.

On further enquiry, they disclosed that they had entered India illegally through the Meghalaya border by land route without possessing any valid travel or identity documents.

During interrogation, they also revealed that they had stayed at a hotel (Vintage Home) situated in Tokobari area of the city.

Due to harbouring and on the basis of having nexus with the Bangladeshi tauts, a case has been registered at Panbazar police station (case no.225/26) against the owner of the hotel and other staff who facilitate these illegal Bangladeshi nationals during their stay and scheduled departure towards Mumbai.

During investigation of the case, Panbazar Police arrested four persons, including Amit Roy Basumatary, owner of Vintage Home.

Three others, namely Hajrat Ali, Vishal Paul and Ranjan Dhar, were also arrested during operations conducted by Panbazar police station officer in-charge Dr Shankar Jyoti Nath.

In another operation, based on inputs from the Border Branch of the Police Commissionerate, Guwahati, a raid was conducted around 2.30 pm on Wednesday at Shanti Hotel, from where 13 more Bangladeshi nationals - four men, four women and five children -- were apprehended.

They had reached Guwahati in the morning from Delhi and wanted to go back to Bangladesh.

During interrogation, the police said they confessed that they had been staying illegally near Pantha Chowk in Srinagar for the past 14-15 years.

But, as Srinagar Police had launched a massive crackdown against Bangaldeshis staying illegally in Srinagar, they fled from there and reached Guwahati to go back to Bangladesh.

The police disclosed that further necessary legal action was being initiated as per law for their expulsion from India, following the provisions of Immigrants (Expulsion) from Assam Act, 1950.

Also Read: Assam Government Halts Pay Scale Proposals for Muster Roll Workers Following Supreme Court Ruling