2 infiltrators apprehended, sent back to Bangladesh: Assam CM

Guwahati, Oct 25 (PTI) Two Bangladesh nationals attempting to illegally enter India were apprehended in Assam’s Karimganj district and sent back to the neighbouring country by the state police, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.

He claimed that one of them tried to enter India assuming a Hindu name.

“Foiling an infiltration bid near the Indo-Bangla border in Karimganj, two Bangladesh nationals were apprehended and pushed back across the border,” Sarma posted on X.

The Bangladeshis were identified as Priyanka Gain, who allegedly tried to enter India by using a Hindu name, and Shiuli Akhtar, Sarma said, while lauding the state police for successfully thwarting the infiltration bid.

Sarma had said on Thursday that over 130 illegal immigrants had tried to enter the state in the last two months.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy towards infiltration, particularly by Rohingyas. In last 2 months, Assam has intercepted 130+ illegal immigrants,” he wrote in a post on X.

Sarma added that 12 new police stations near the India-Bangladesh border are in the pipeline.

Vigil along the 1,885-km-long India-Bangladesh border in the Northeast has been intensified since turmoil in the neighbouring country.

Sarma had earlier said that the illegal immigrants were using Assam as a passage to reach the southern cities to work in the textile industry.

Assam Director General of Police GP Singh had said that the state police force is also maintaining a high alert along the international border to ensure that no person enters the state illegally.

However, all Indian passport holders would be allowed to return from trouble-hit Bangladesh through the entry point in the state, he had said.