Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the media on Wednesday that 18 foreigners who had made their way into India illegally were caught in the state and they were deported. In the process of verifying the act, the Chief Minister never revealed the information about their nationality and the routes by which they had gained access into Assam.
In a highly emotive post in social media site, X, Sarma restated the solid position of the state government on border control and unlawful intrusion. He said that the hostile elements can have intentions to destabilise the region, but Assam is geared to develop, economic growth and enforcement of the law. He stressed on vigilance by indicating that the state was firm on detecting and deporting the individuals who have come into the country unlawfully.
Assam also has an extended frequently delicate international frontier with Bangladesh that is about 267.5 kilometres long traversing the districts of Sribhumi, Cachar, Dhubri and South Salmara-Mankachar. Since the geography is vulnerable, the state and central governments have given border management a priority.
Assam boasts of an Integrated Check Post (ICP) that is located at Sutarkandi in the Sribhumi district in order to reinforce cross border monitoring and legal movability. There are three ICPs in the India-Bangladesh border in the Northeast region, the other two being situated in Dawki, Meghalaya and Akhaura, Tripura. Also, there is another ICP located at Darranga, in the IndiaBhutan border, which improves the infrastructure in the region in terms of borders.
Assam Police had previously said that the state force, working with the Border Security Force (BSF) would use all means necessary to stop unauthorized entry of non-Indians into the country of Bangladesh, but within the limits of the law. This is on the back of increased security in the neighbouring state last year after political instability in the neighbourhood caused the issue of cross-border movement to be of concern.
The governments have made it clear that Indian nationals who are trapped in Bangladesh by the unrests would still be allowed to go back, though via special checkpoints in Assam.
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