Bangladeshi infiltration bid foiled, one foreign national pushed back: Assam CM

Guwahati, Oct 19 (IANS) Assam Police have foiled another attempt at infiltration by Bangladeshi nationals along the international border in the Karimganj district, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Saturday.

Taking to X, Sarma wrote, “In a successful pushback of an illegal infiltrator in Karimganj district, one Bangladeshi national was apprehended and sent across the border by @assampolice.”

The person is identified as Md. Arif and he was arrested by the security forces in the Karimganj district. Upon arrest, police pushed him back to the neighbouring nation.

The Chief Minister further said, “Our personnel are fully alert to thwart such infiltration attempts at the Indo-Bangladesh border.”

The security vigilance along the international border with Bangladesh was heightened following the unrest in the neighbouring country.

Sarma earlier asserted that although some of the Bangladeshi infiltrators managed to get Aadhaar cards, they could not enrol themselves in the voter list.

He said, “There is no chance that people cross illegally the international border from Bangladesh and get themselves enrolled in the voter list in Assam because we have caught many people who illegally entered Indian territory and they were pushed back within a few hours. Most of the infiltrators were arrested in the morning around 5 a.m. and before 9 a.m., they were pushed back to the neighbouring country. In two or three hours, they can not register themselves in the voter list.”

However, the Chief Minister sees no harm in remaining double vigilant in this matter.

“We have decided to take a slew of measures against the detection of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh because there might have been possibilities that a few infiltrators could not be arrested by the security personnel,” he added.

The Chief Minister asserted that people from Bangladesh come to India due to poverty in the neighbouring country after the recent unrest following the departure of Sheikh Hasina government. He also claimed that contrary to conventional apprehension, mainly people who belong to the Muslim community have been trying to cross the border and enter India illegally for the sake of jobs.