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Agartala, Sept. 15: Tripura police have launched a crackdown on illegal Bangladeshi migrants, following a directive from the Centre after the riots in Assam.
Five illegal migrants were today arrested from Chakmaghat, on the outskirts of this town, in Teliamura subdivision of Khowai district. Fatema Khatun, 42, Hazera Begum, 35, Sheuli Begum, 7, Mohammed Azibur Mia, 41, and Mohammed Muzibur Mia, 38, were produced in court in Khowai town and sent to 10-day judicial custody for illegal migration and producing fake documents.
Pranab Sengupta, officer-in-charge of Teliamura police station, said they conducted the raid around 9am after receiving reports that illegal migrants were residing in Chakmaghat after illegally obtaining documents like ration cards “with the help of panchayat members in lieu of hefty payments”. He said the arersted had come from the Akhaura police station area in Bangladesh’s Comilla district in a phased manner over the past one-and-a-half years.
“When we brought the illegal migrants to the police station, the panchayat members tried to get them released. They backed out when we questioned the validity of the papers shown to us. The arrested persons broke down soon and confessed that they had come from Bangladesh,” Sengupta said.
Similar operations are on in other areas, too.
Describing the modus operandi of the illegal immigrants, a deputy superintendent of police (Mobile Task Force) said they sneak across the border with the help of relatives or acquaintances settled here, take part in the ruling party’s programmes, get their names recorded in the panchayat register with the help of panchayat members and obtain other papers in lieu of hefty payments. Sonamura and Kailasahar subdivisions are particularly vulnerable to influx. An intensified drive is on to identify and push back illegal migrants, he added.
Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura president Narendra Debbarma, expressed concern over influx. He said if illegal migrants sneak in the autonomous district council area of Chakmaghat, it will pose a real threat to indigenous people. Unless the government and BSF take strict action, a major demographic imbalance will create problems in the state, he added.
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