Despite strong surveillance in the entire stretch of India-Bangladesh along with Tripura after unrest in Bangladesh to stop any attempted infiltration by Bangladeshi anti-social elements, 3 more Bangladesh nationals were arrested on Monday.

After unrest in Bangladesh, the infiltration by Bangladeshi, Rohingyas into Tripura unabated, but vigilant security forces in maximum cases managed to arrest them after they entered Indian territory.

BSF through a press statement said that based on specific information of BSF troops of Border Outpost (BOP) Harihardola under Sepahijala district apprehended three Bangladeshi nationals while they were trying to enter Indian territory by negotiating the border fence.

All apprehended Bangladesh nationals are family members and residents of Comilla district of Bangladeshi.                                                          

It may be recalled here that the bordering Tripura, which is a top hotspot travelling destination for human trafficking, especially for Rohingyas and Bangladesh nationals, who were illegally entered into Indian territory and moves towards other parts of the country through different means of surface communication with help of Indian and Bangladeshi touts, but many time, the alert security forces have also managed to detain them.

A Border Security Force (BSF) spokesman added that the paramilitary forces are cracking down heavily on the illegal migration by Bangladeshi nationals and have stepped up the vigil in close coordination with sister agencies in the border area. In the month of September 2024 itself total 65 Bangladesh nationals have been apprehended by BSF troops while trying to infiltrate into Indian territory.

Following the direction of Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, the BSF has stepped up its drive against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and all field formations are actively breaking down the nexus of touts in the bordering areas.

Tripura Frontier Inspector General Patel Piyush Purushottam Das said that 95 percent of the 856 km India-Bangladesh border with Tripura has already been fenced, while fencing work is going on in the remaining 27.5 km.

Over the last three months, more than 300 Bangladeshi nationals and 50 Rohingyas were arrested by the GRP, BSF and Tripura Police from the Agartala railway station and various other places in Tripura after they illegally entered India.

Officials said that all the Bangladeshis and Rohingyas illegally entered Tripura to board trains or buses to go to other states in India “in search of jobs”.

BSF said that on the night of September 11th, BSF troops of BOP Yakubnagar under North Tripura district seized 2 cattle heads whereas Indian smugglers in collusion with Bangladeshi smugglers managed to smuggle 6 more cattle heads  to Bangladesh by breaching the border fence.                

The matter was also reported to BSF Company Commander by local villagers regarding theft of 8 cattle by miscreants from the border village Yakubnagar in North Tripura.

The company commander of BSF immediately approached BGB for a flag meeting and a request was given to BGB for tracing the stolen cattle in the flag meeting.

Responding to the request, stolen cattle were promptly traced by BGB and further handed over to BSF through flag meeting on September 12th, 2024. The cattle have been further handed over to their owners.

BSF and BGB have once again displayed excellent synergy and coordination in resolving local issues in the bordering areas. Initiative taken by BSF and BGB in recovery of the stolen cattle has been widely appreciated by the border population.