Six Rohingyas on way from Tripura held; alert in Assam

At a refugee camp in Kanchan Kunj. Oinam Anand

Assam Police has sounded an alert across the state, in particular the districts bordering Bangladesh, after the arrest of six Rohingyas in Karimganj and three in Tripura who reportedly facilitated their entry. Twenty-eight Rohingyas who were earlier arrested are lodged at detention camps in the state.

The six Rohingya men were arrested from a bus on the Assam-Tripura border in Karimganj district a few weeks ago. Three people were arrested from a village in Tripura on the India-Bangladesh border for allegedly helping the six enter India and travel to Assam.

Assam Police Additional DG (Special Branch) Pallab Bhattacharyya said, “We have arrested three people from Nabadwip Chandra Nagar village under Sonamura police station in West Tripura on the basis of statements made by the six Rohingyas who had entered India illegally in August. The Rohingyas said their entry into India and travel to Guwahati was facilitated by the three people of Tripura.”

Bhattacharyya accused the trio from Tripura of being involved in human trafficking for the last few years. The three have been identified as Farooque Hussain Choudhury (32), Suman Choudhury (36) and Shahjahan Miya Choudhury (38).

According to Bhattacharyya, the six arrested were headed for Guwahati. The police suspect they would have travelled to Delhi by train from Guwahati, and then either joined a refugee camp there or travelled further to Jammu and Kashmir, the ADGP said.