Assam govt deports 20 Bangladeshi nationals

Comprising of both Hindu and Muslim Bangladeshi nationals, all 20 of those deported by the Assam government were convicted for violation of either the Passports Act or the Foreigners Act, or both and had been lodged in Assam's Silchar and Kokrajhar Central Jail.

Silchar (Assam): Twenty Bangladeshi nationals, including a woman, were deported by the Assam government on Saturday through the Sutarkandi border check-point in southern Assam's Karimganj district for illegally entering India.

"The 20 people were deported to Bangladesh through the Sutarkandi (India)-Sheola (Bangladesh) border check post (in Assam) in the presence of the Border Security Force and Border Guards Bangladesh," said Utpal Sharma, a border wing official.

Comprising of both Hindus and Muslims, all 20 of those deported were convicted for violation of either the Passports Act or the Foreigners Act, or both and had been lodged in Assam's Silchar Central Jail and the Kokrajhar Central Jail.

"These Bangladeshi nationals have confessed that they entered India illegally in search of jobs or to meet their relatives," Sharma added.

Saturday’s deportation was the second after 21 Bangladeshi nationals were sent home on January 19 this year.

Assam shares a 263 km border along Karimganj district with Bangladesh's Sylhet district.