Guwahati, Oct 25: Despite increase in the deployment of Border Security Force (BSF) personnel along the India-Bangladesh border, Bangladeshi nationals are still sneaking into India, mostly via Meghalaya, with the help of touts as is evident from recent arrests in different parts of Assam including Guwahati.
Since April this year, police in Guwahati have arrested nearly 100 Bangladeshi nationals who entered India recently and around 15 were arrested by Government Railway Police.
The Bangladeshis were arrested from hotels, homestays, railway platforms en route to Guwahati from Meghalaya and even from airports.
However, these arrests can be tips of an iceberg as no one knows how many Bangladeshi nationals are still sneaking into India on a daily basis and police manage to nab them only on suspicion or when they get a specific tip-off.
So, the number of Bangladeshi nationals entering India can actually be much higher. In one particular case, four Bangladeshi nationals were arrested in Guwahati when they were on their way back home through Meghalaya.
Police sources told The Assam Tribune that when questioned, the arrested Bangladeshis admitted that they did not enter through the Assam-Bangladesh border but mostly via Meghalaya.
Most of the arrested Bangladeshi nationals took one specific route – they started off from Jaflong in Bangladesh and entered India via Dawki in Meghalaya.
The Bangladeshi nationals avoided public transport to come to Assam from Meghalaya as there were chances of getting caught and that is why, they usually use light motor vehicles. However, the recently arrested foreigners did not plan to stay in Assam and were planning to fan out to different parts of the country.
They admitted that there are touts on both sides of the international border who facilitate their entry into India.
The illegal entry of Bangladeshi nationals to India can prove to be a major security threat to the country. It is a well-established fact that several jihadi groups are now active in Bangladesh and if Bangladeshi nationals can freely enter India, jihadi elements can also sneak into the country to foment trouble.