Agartala, Nov. 1: There has been a steady trickle of infiltrators entering Tripura from the border areas of Bangladesh.

A total of 27 Mog tribal families from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh bordering South Tripura entered Sabroom subdivision on Monday. Another 23 Mog tribal families entered Sabroom subdivision through the Ghorakappa area.

The state government has put the BSF on high alert and directed the Mobile Task Force (MTF) of the state police to identify and drive out the infiltrators. But none of the infiltrators could be identified.

A police source said, “There is no report of infiltration and we are doing everything possible to prevent any kind of illegal entry of Bangladeshi nationals into Tripura.”

However, official sources said the Buddhist Mog tribal families had been advised by residents to leave Sabroom and seek shelter in Mog-inhabited areas of Dhalai district. A source said Kulai area under Dhalai district had a considerable Mog population in the interiors and it would be difficult to identify the infiltrators.

The police in Sabroom have, however, continued their search operations in Mahamuni, Kaptali, Ramnagar, Ajodhya Para, Kaptoli and Daulbai panchayat areas.

A source in the state police said parts of South Tripura through which the Mogs entered are yet to be fenced and the BSF patrolling is also “not as intense as it is in theplains”.

The source added that Mog tribals had earlier comprised a considerable portion of tribal refugees from the Chittagong Hill Tracts. They had spent more than 11 years in refugee camps in Sabroom and Amarpur subdvision of South Tripura between 1986 and 1997 and are familiar with Tripura’s topography.

“There has not been any infiltration from the plains of Bangladesh bordering South, West and North Tripura,” a source said. The source added that the police and paramilitary forces have been put on high alert to prevent infiltration from across the border.

There is a possibility of the stalled Agartala-Dhaka bus service resuming. Following largescale political disturbances in Bangladesh, the Agartala-Dhaka bus service, which had been set rolling from September 2003, came to a grinding halt from Saturday when the Tripura Road Transport Corporation (TRTC) bus returned from the Akhaura checkpost on the western outskirts of Agartala.

A source in TRTC said they have received reports of the situation returning to normal and assured security. “We are now thinking of resuming the service as early as possible,” a source said.