'Leave in 24 hours': Assam issues expulsion orders to five Sonitpur villagers

Five residents from Dhobokata village in Sonitpur district have been directed to leave Assam within 24 hours after a Foreigners Tribunal confirmed them as non-citizens, invoking a colonial-era law that allows the state to expel suspected illegal immigrants.

The District Magistrate's office in Tezpur issued expulsion orders on November 18, 2025, against Hanufa, Amjad Ali, Mariyam Nessa, Fatema, and Monowara, all residents of Dhobokata village under Jamugurihat police station. The orders cite the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act 1950, a law originally enacted to deal with post-Partition migration.

Foreigners Tribunal No. 2 in Sonitpur delivered its opinion on October 24, 2025, confirming all five individuals as foreigners in separate cases. The tribunal proceedings stemmed from references made nearly two decades ago by the Superintendent of Police (Border) in Tezpur, dated 20 March 2006.

The expulsion orders state that, as declared foreigners, their "presence in India/Assam is detrimental to the interest of the general public and also for the internal security of the state." The individuals have been instructed to leave through designated exit routes via Dhubri, Sribhumi, or South Salmara-Mankachar.

District Commissioner Ananda Kumar Das, who signed the orders, warned that failure to comply would compel the government "to take appropriate action to remove you from the territory of the State of Assam, India under the provisions of the above Act."