Under strict surveillance along the India-Bangladesh border, authorities have apprehended 16 Bangladeshi nationals, including three women, for illegal entry into India. The arrests took place at Agartala railway station on Tuesday night, just before the group boarded a train.
The railway station, located on the outskirts of Agartala, is approximately 6 kilometers from the Bangladesh border. According to officials, the 16 individuals had fled Bangladesh due to ongoing violence, seeking safety and job opportunities in India.
Among those detained, 13 are from Chapainawabganj district in Rajshahi division, while the remaining three hail from Gazipur district in Dhaka division. Notably, neither Rajshahi nor Dhaka divisions share a border with Tripura. Nonetheless, there has been a noticeable rise in nationals from these areas entering Tripura recently.
Tripura’s border with Bangladesh spans 856 kilometers, encompassing Chittagong and Sylhet divisions. Since unrest erupted in Bangladesh in June, there has been a significant increase in infiltration attempts. Over the past three months, around 250 Bangladeshi nationals and 32 Rohingyas have been arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP), Border Security Force (BSF), and Tripura Police across various locations in Tripura.
The BSF has intensified its efforts to curb illegal crossings. The force has thwarted several infiltration attempts and apprehended Indian touts and human traffickers. In response to the heightened unrest in Bangladesh, the BSF has ramped up vigilance along the 856-km border. This includes improved coordination with Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and enhanced surveillance using Hand Held Thermal Imagers and drones.
BSF’s Tripura frontier Inspector General Patel Piyush Purusottam Das, along with other senior officials, has been actively monitoring the situation. Das has instructed all border commanders to enhance collaboration with law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Additionally, joint operations against illegal infiltrators and trans-border smugglers are underway.
To bolster these efforts, the BSF and BGB are conducting joint patrols along the India-Bangladesh border, aiming to prevent infiltration and address border crimes effectively.