36 Bangladeshi nationals enter Assam illegally from Meghalaya, detained at Dhubri ferry ghat: Police

As many as 36 suspected Bangladeshi nationals have been detained at a ferry ghat in Assam's Dhubri district, and police said that they might have entered India through a border area of Meghalaya.

A senior police officer on Friday evening told HT that, based on specific intelligence inputs, police launched a search operation at Jogamaya Ferry Ghat and detained 36 men suspected of having entered India illegally.

"We have checked their documents, and it was found that all of them are residents of Chapainawabganj district in Bangladesh’s Rajshahi Division," the senior official said.

The search operation was led by Dhubri Senior Superintendent of Police Debashish Bora. He said the motive of the Bangladeshi nationals was yet to be ascertained and they were being questioned.

“We are investigating the matter, and they are being questioned. How they entered India and where they were heading are still not clear,” he said.

The group was detained at around 10.30 am after arriving at the ghat by boat.

Police said initial investigations found that they had entered India through the India-Bangladesh international border in Meghalaya and later entered Assam through South Salmara-Mankachar district.

"The group had entered India around three days earlier and later travelled from Hatsingimari in South Salmara-Mankachar district towards Dhubri by boat," an investigating officer said.

He said there were around 120 people on the boat and that, after screening, police identified 36 people from Bangladesh. Some documents and mobile phones were also recovered, he added.

The Dhubri SSP said that the police were investigating the methods used to enter India. He said that action would be taken against the 36 under the existing laws and that the border department would process their deportation after consultation with the concerned authorities.

The law

The Assam government follows the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, to deport suspected illegal migrants.

In September last year, the Assam Cabinet, led by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, approved a standard operating procedure (SOP) under the 1950 Act, empowering District Commissioners (DCs) to issue an expulsion order against any person who, in the DC's view, is a foreigner.

Earlier incidents

Last month, Assam Police detained 27 Bangladeshi nationals, including men, women and minors, from Guwahati and Rangia railway stations.

Police said they came from several districts of Bangladesh, including Dhaka, Sunamganj, Gopalganj, Bagherhat, Khulna and Mymensingh, and that all had entered India through Meghalaya with the help of an international racket.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Border), Guwahati, Kulendra Nath Deka, said on September 27 that they had paid a large amount of money to the alleged racket, which helped them enter India.