Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said the state is being used as a corridor by the Rohingya infiltrators from Bangladesh to either go to Delhi or Kashmir with the help of some brokers in Tripura.
During the past several years, infiltration from Bangladesh into Assam was almost zero, but some recent activities have been noticed along the Indo-Bangla border in Karimganj district, Sarma said while addressing the Superintendents of Police convention at Bongaigaon.
''Assam is now being used as a corridor by the Rohingyas to go to Delhi or Kashmir. Our investigations have revealed that some brokers of Tripura facilitate this infiltration,'' Sarma said. The director general of police has already taken some steps to prevent this while the Karimganj superintendent of police has been asked to step up vigil to stop infiltration, he said.
''(Authorities of) three districts in Barak Valley should remain active and we should not just confine ourselves by deporting the identified infiltrators but go to Tripura, arrest the brokers and break the backbone of this syndicate'', Sarma said.
The three districts of the Barak Valley region are Cachar, Karimgaj and Hailakandi. Proactive steps must be taken to prevent Rohingya infiltrators, smugglers and insurgents outside Assam from using the state as a corridor for transit to other states, he said.
This is a new emerging crime and the infiltrators mostly use the rail route and the railway police have to play a significant role in this regard. ''Intelligence should be increased in all railway stations from Barak Valley to the western border of Assam so that the Rohingyas are intercepted and decisive action is taken against them,'' he said.
Assam police should initiate action both in source states, if the situation so warrants, and also step up surveillance in railway and bus stations, Sarma added. Rohingyas are originally from Myanmar. Lakhs of them fled the country to Bangladesh since a military clampdown began there in August 2017 to oust the predominantly Muslim ethnic group from their homeland in Rakhine state. Many of them have entered India from Bangladesh. (PTI)
