Assam STF nabs 12 agents for aiding Rohingya immigrants to reach different parts of country

The Rohingyas from Bangladesh were converging in Assam via the Tripura border. From Assam, the agents were making arrangements to send them to different parts of the country after providing them with fake Aadhaar cards and other documents.

Guwahati: In a crackdown against Rohingya Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh using Assam as a corridor to infiltrate different parts of the country; the Special Task Force of the state arrested 12 agents. The arrested agents were paving the way for the Rohingyas to move to other parts of the country by providing fake Aadhaar cards and other documents.

The Rohingyas from Bangladesh were converging in Assam via the Tripura border. From Assam, the agents were making arrangements to send them to different parts of the country after providing them with fake Aadhaar cards and other documents. Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG, administration)), the Assam police, Partha Sarathi Mahanta while talking to reporters on Monday, said, "We were carrying crackdown against these agents or brokers as per the directive of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. We launched a drive to uproot agent cartels running in different parts of Tripura. These agents were aiding Rohingyas to reach different parts of the mainland of the country. The Assam Special Task Force (STF) was divided into five teams led by the Additional Superintendent of Police and Deputy Superintendent of Police-rank officers. The massive operations were carried out from July 28 to 30 and the teams were successful in arresting eight agents."

The eight arrested brokers used to bring Rohingya immigrants from Bangladesh into India through the Tripura border. After providing them with bogus Indian documents, the agents were making arrangements to send Rohingyas to Jammu and Kashmir, Hyderabad, Mumbai, West Bengal and other places by train. Tripura’s Dharmanagar, Kumarghat and Badarpur stations in Assam’s Karimganj were major boarding points for these Rohingya immigrants from Bangladesh.

The arrested brokers have been identified as Uttam Pal of Tripura Unakoti, Kajal Sarkar, Sagar Sarkar and Kartik Namo of West Tripura district, Parvez Hussain of Sepahijala district, Shivshankar Ghosh of Belonia in Tripura, Bangladeshi Buddhist monk Bijoy Barawa and Sahadat Sheikh. The Assam STF also seized several fake documents, Aadhaar cards, Saudi Arabian and Korean foreign currencies, and mobile phones from their possession. On the other hand, the Assam STF team arrested four brokers in April, May and June in connection with case number 01/2023 registered at the STF police station on March 22 this year. They were identified as Ajit Sarkar, Keshav Shill alias Abu, Dipanjan Baidya, and Deepak Das.