Guwahati, Nov 8: As many as 47 touts engaged in facilitating illegal migrants into India through the India-Bangladesh border have been apprehended during a country-wide operation, launched by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and assisted by Assam Police and other state police forces, in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Addressing media persons here on Wednesday, Special DGP, Assam Police, Harmeet Singh informed that out of the 47 touts and middleman apprehended by the central investigation agency, 25 are from Tripura, five from Assam, three from West Bengal, nine from Karnataka, three from Tamil Nadu, and one each from Haryana and Telangana.
“More leads will come out in due course of investigation. Assam Police teams have assisted the NIA teams physically in Assam, Tripura and northern India. We have 17 teams on the ground for the operation,” Singh said.
Giving further details, the Special DGP said that in February this year, a group of Rohingiyas was detected in a train coming from Tripura at Karimganj Railway Station by Karimganj Police.
“After thorough investigation, it came to light that the illegal Rohingyas/infiltrators had entered India through the India-Bangladesh Border. After the incident, Assam Police increased vigil and operations, resulting in 450 illegal migrants (Rohingyas/Bangladeshis) being stopped and turned back with the assistance of the border guarding forces,” he said.
“During the course of inquiries and questioning, it was ascertained that the illegal migrants were facilitated in entering India illegally by touts/middlemen who played a major role in the infiltration. It was also learnt that the touts exist not only on both the sides of the India-Bangladesh border, but also in the mainland. Thus, began an operation to root out the network of touts,” Singh said.
Notably, in July this year, the Special Task Force (STF), Assam Police, had launched an operation and arrested 10 such touts/middlemen.
“Further investigation revealed that the network of touts existed across India, which was a serious national security concern with inter-state ramifications. Therefore, the Assam government requested the ministry of home affairs (MHA) to transfer one of the cases to (NIA) given the fact that Assam was being used as a corridor for this anti-national activity,” the police official said.
“Accordingly, NIA took up the case and conducted an investigation with support from Assam Police. Subsequently, a list of touts involved in this nefarious crime was collated and after meticulous planning, a country-wide operation was launched today leading to the arrest of 47 touts/middlemen,” he said.