7 Bangladeshis, 4 Rohingyas held along India-Bangladesh border

Agartala: Seven Bangladeshi nationals and four Rohingyas were arrested in Meghalaya and Tripura border villages, along with four Indian touts who facilitated the foreign nationals’ illegal entry into India from across the border, an official said on Sunday.

The BSF also seized 187 second-hand mobile phones from Tripura’s Sepahijala district.

A BSF spokesperson in Shillong said that acting on specific input, alert BSF troopers in Meghalaya apprehended seven Bangladesh nationals including a woman and two Indian nationals from different villages along the India-Bangladesh border.

The Bangladeshis, with the help of two Indian touts, were attempting to engage in smuggling and illegal entry into India.

A BSF spokesman in Agartala said that four Rohingyas, including two women, were arrested in northern Tripura’s Dharmanagar along with two Indian touts who facilitated their illegal entry into India from Bangladesh.

A specific case has been registered against them.

The arrested Rohingyas have been identified as Jahid Alam and Mantajul Haque (male), and Meen Tara and Putu Aktar (female), while the arrested touts are Munim and Iqbal.

Jahid Alam, one of the arrested Rohingyas, revealed that he paid Rs 25,000 to the Indian touts to facilitate his crossing under the barbed-wire fencing at Kailashahar in Unakoti district.

Originally from Myanmar, Jahid Alam told the police that his intended destination was Delhi.

Authorities are investigating the network involved in infiltration of Rohingyas into India, as security agencies remain on high alert against illegal border crossings.

The spokesman said that a BSF special ambush party observed suspicious movement of six smugglers on both sides of India-Bangladesh border in Matinagar area under Tripura’s Sepahijala district, trying to carry out smuggling activities.

On being challenged by the BSF, the smugglers fled away towards their respective sides. Further, when the area was thoroughly searched, BSF recovered 187 used mobile phones of various makes worth Rs 42.10 lakh Seized mobile phones have been handed over to the Customs for further necessary legal action.