A judicial court operating in the Unakoti district of Tripura has handed down a prison sentence of two years of rigorous confinement to five individuals of Bangladeshi origin. The group was found guilty of entering Indian territory without possessing any valid travel authorization or legal identification documents. Along with the jail term, the court has ordered each convicted individual to pay a penalty of Rs 10,000. Failing to clear this financial penalty will subject them to an additional two months of imprisonment.
Details of the First Infiltration Incident
The legal proceedings arose from two distinct incidents of border crossing. In the first instance, security officials apprehended three Bangladeshi citizens who have been identified as Imran Hossain, Arman Hossain, and Manir Hossain. All three individuals are residents of the Comilla district in Bangladesh. They were intercepted by law enforcement at the Paiturbazar motorstand located in the Kailasahar area of Unakoti district. At the time of their arrest, they were accompanied by two Indian facilitators or touts who had helped them navigate the border crossing.
According to the official investigation conducted by the local police, the three men breached the international border to enter India on February 1 this year. They utilized the Rangauti border crossing point, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Irani police station in Kailasahar. The police confirmed that none of the apprehended individuals possessed valid visa papers, passports, or any other approved travel documents. Consequently, they were prosecuted and convicted under Sections 21/23 of the Immigration and Foreigners' Act, alongside relevant provisions of the BNS.
Second Infiltration and Subsequent Arrests
The second case dates back to June 10 last year, when local police authorities acted on specific intelligence and conducted a search operation at a newly constructed house in Kailasahar. During this operation, they detained two individuals identified as Shiuli Begam and Sahid Sekh, who were accompanied by a minor child. During their subsequent interrogation, the duo confessed to the investigators that they had crossed the international border into India without any legal permission. They also revealed that they were actively searching for a way to return to their home country, Bangladesh, when they were intercepted.
Following a detailed trial of this second group, the Unakoti district court pronounced them guilty of illegal entry. Both Shiuli Begam and Sahid Sekh received the same sentence of two years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 10,000. They will have to serve an additional two-month jail term if the monetary penalty is not paid.
