Assam: 11 out of 17 arrested Bangladeshi nationals sent to jail

Eleven out of the 17 Bangladeshi nationals who were arrested from Behali in Assam’s Biswanath district on September 17 have been sent to jail, officials informed on September 18.

As per the officials, a preacher, who was leading the group and six others were sent to two-days of police custody.

Besides this, two persons identified as Shamshul Ali and Zehirul Haque have been taken into custody by the police for providing shelter to the Bangladeshi nationals.

It may be mentioned here that the Gingia Police arrested as many as 17 Bangladeshi nationals in Assam’s Biswanath district here on September 17, 2022.

Earlier today, Assam Director General of Police (DGP) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta on September 18 said that the 17 Bangladeshis arrested from Biswanath district were apprehended for allegedly indulging in "religious preaching" which is a violation of tourist visa norms.

“A few days ago, I presented my views to the heads of the minority religious group in Assam, that how people from Bangladesh are visiting the state using tourist visas but have been found to be violating the Visa rules and regulations. Upon receiving inputs from sources, we found that this group was engaged in religious preachings/teachings in the area,'' he added.
 
However, the DGP also added that so far no such evidence has been ascertained to establish any links with any terror module.

“We don’t say that the apprehended people are bad. They can be good, or a few of them may be carrying bad intentions, which we are unaware of. What is more incriminating is that the people who have been detained entered the state and have been camping at a remote place called Baghmari, which is actually a Char area. This region was earlier notorious for rhino poaching and many other criminal activities,'' he said.  

Assam DGP further said that the purpose of a tourist visa is to allow an individual or group to visit a country for tourism purposes and not for preaching religious sermons, adding, ''Few individuals or anti-India forces are taking advantage of the situation and deliberately misusing visa rules to enter Assam''. 

As per reports, these Bangladeshi nationals had entered India on tourist visas through Cooch Behar and they had travelled to many religious places across India and carried out secret preaching and religious activities, which is a violation of their tourist visas, under the leadership of one Syed Ashraful Alam who is a Peer and the leader of the group.