The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a total of 47 touts or middlemen across India on Wednesday for facilitating Rohingya infiltration into the country, reports said.
Among the 47 middlemen arrested, 25 were arrested in Tripura and five in Assam.
This was announced by Special Director General of Police (SDPG), Harmeet Singh while addressing a press conference in Guwahati today. According to Singh, in the month of February this year, the Karimganj Police nabbed a group of Rohingiyas in a train coming from Tripura at the Karimganj Railway Station. After thorough investigation, it came to light that the illegal Rohingyas were entering India through the Indo-Bangladesh border.
After the incident, the Assam Police increased the vigil and operations which resulted in 450 illegal migrants being stopped and turned back with the assistance of the Border Guarding Forces.
Later, it was ascertained that the illegal migrants were facilitated in entering India illegally by middlemen. Further, during investigations, it was also revealed that the touts exist not only on both the sides of the Indo-Bangladesh Border, but also in the mainland.
An operation was thus launched by the Special Task Force (STF), Assam in July 2023 where a total of 10 middlemen were arrested, Singh police informed.
Concerning the threat of the issue to the country’s national security, the Assam Government requested the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to transfer the case to the NIA.
Accordingly, the NIA took up the case and after investigation with collaborative efforts of the Assam Police; a country-wide of operation was launched in the wee hours of Wednesday in association with various State Police Forces.
A total of 47 middlemen were picked up from seven states of the country. The break-up is as follows:
Tripura - 25
Assam - 5
West Bengal - 3
Karnataka - 9
Haryana - 1
Telangana -1
Tamilnadu - 3
