NIA Detains 47 People for Helping Rohingyas Enter India Illegally

47 people from seven states, including West Bengal and Assam, were detained by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday for allegedly helping "illegal Rohingiyas/infiltrators" enter India over the Indo-Bangladesh Border.

The Assam police announced the development in Guwahati. They said that in the early hours of Wednesday, the nation's central counterterrorism law enforcement agency, working with the Assam police and other state police forces, launched a nationwide operation and "picked up" 47 suspected touts and middlemen for allegedly having "facilitated" the entry of the illegal migrants.

Tripura (25), Assam (5), West Bengal (3), Karnataka (9), Telangana (1), Haryana (1), and Tamil Nadu (3) were the places from where they were collected.

Out of these states, Bangladesh has borders with Tripura, Assam, and West Bengal.

Teams from state police "assisted" the Northern India, Assam, and Tripura NIA teams. The state police said, "We have 17 teams on the ground for the operation."

The discovery of a group of Rohingyas in February at the Karimganj Railway Station in Assam served as the impetus for the operation. They had traveled from Tripura.

"Illegal Rohingyas/infiltrators were entering India, through the Indo-Bangladesh Border," according to a police inquiry.

450 illegal migrants (Rohingyas/Bangladeshis) were intercepted and sent back with the help of border guarding personnel as a consequence of the Assam Police's intensified vigil and operations, the police said in a statement released on Wednesday.

The border between Bangladesh and India is guarded by the BGB and BSF, respectively.

After a series of investigations and interrogations, it was discovered that touts and intermediaries were heavily involved in infiltration, a delicate matter in Assam since the 1970s.

It was also discovered throughout the examination that there are touts in the Indian mainland as well as on both sides of the border between Bangladesh and India. An effort to expose the network of touts was launched as a result. Ten of these touts and intermediaries were apprehended by the Special Task Force (STF), Assam, after the commencement of an operation in July 2023, according to the police.

Subsequent inquiry exposed the tout network's widespread presence across India, raising grave concerns about national security that might have an impact on neighboring states.

The police said, "Given that Assam was being used as a corridor for this anti-national activity, the government of Assam requested the MHA, Government of India to transfer one of the cases to the NIA."

As a consequence, the NIA took up the issue, and after "collaborative effort" with the Assam Police, compiled a list of touts engaged in the unlawful migrant trafficking. Following "meticulous planning," the NIA conducted a nationwide operation that culminated in the capture of the 47 touts on Wednesday.

A guy from Assam was detained by the NIA in Bangalore last year on suspicion of providing fictitious credentials to Rohingya refugees so they could settle in India.