The North-eastern State of Tripura has been witnessing a large influx of Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims in the past 1.5 years.
The situation has been further exacerbated with the undemocratic ouster of Sheikh Hasina, coupled with the rise of radical Islamism in Bangladesh under the watch of ‘chief advisor’ Muhammad Yunus.
According to the data shared by Tripura police, a whopping 816 Bangladeshis and 79 Rohingyas had been apprehended while illegally entering India through the State between 1st January 2024 and 28th February 2025.
About 483 illegal immigrants came to Tripura after the fall of Dhaka on 5th August last year.
In recent times, there have been media reports of Bangladeshi infiltrators being apprehended from railway stations while transiting to other parts of India, like Kerala and Karnataka.
It is increasingly becoming clear that the illegal immigrants from our neighbouring country are using Tripura as the entry point to gain access to far-flung metropolitan cities of India.
This is further concluded in a research report published by the Jawaharlal Nehru University about the socio-economic impact of illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas in the National Capital.
The study analysed the residence of the Rohingya infiltrators and illegal Bangladeshis before heading towards Delhi.
Tripura featured in the 3rd rank in the list with 8.7% population using the Northeastern State as a gateway to reach the National Capital. As per 2016 estimates, there are more than 2 crore illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in India.
Tripura has special forces to nab infiltrators
It is interesting to note that the Northeastern State of Tripura has a ‘Mobile Task Force’ (MTF) to nab illegal immigrants.
It was first set up in 1970 as a small unit under the control of the District Superintendents of Police. 5 years later, in 1975, a separate unit of the ‘Mobile Task Force’ was established to arrest infiltrators.
The objectives of the Mobile Task Force include –
- Detection of infiltrators
- Prosecution of illegal immigrants
- Deportation of infiltrators (particularly Bangladeshis) from India
- Conducting inquiries over the suspected nationality of individuals
- Conducting inquiries over fake/doubtful nationality certificates
- Involvement of Bangladeshis in religious fundamentalism and anti Indian activities
- Collection of intelligence involving trans-border crimes
The functioning of the ‘Mobile Task Force’ is based on guidelines received from the DGP (Tripura), Union Home Ministry and Home and Political Department of the Government of Tripura.
It must be mentioned that only Bangladeshis who came to India illegally after the cut-off date of 25th March 1971 (as per the Assam Accord) are treated as ‘illegal immigrants’
What happens after an illegal immigrant is caught in Tripura
Besides the Mobile Task Force (MTF) designed to apprehend illegal immigrants in Tripura, the Border Security Force (BSF) as well as the State Police have been empowered to nab infiltrators.
If the BSF catches an illegal immigrant within Tripura, it hands over the accused to the local police. A First Information Report (FIR) is thereafter filed in connection with the case. This was confirmed to us by one of our sources in the BSF.
The Standard Operating Procedure is to hand infiltrators over to the police. The Tripura police can arrest illegal immigrants under Section 4 of the Passport (Entry into India) Act of 1920.
The accused can be prosecuted under the Immigration and Foreigners Act of 2025 (previously known as the Foreigners Act of 1946).
It must be mentioned that the Union Home Ministry has empowered both States and Union Territories to crack down on illegal immigrants.
Unlike Assam, Tripura does not have permanent detention centres for illegal Bangladeshis or a well-established system of Foreigners Tribunals.
As such, once infiltrators are apprehended, they are produced in local courts. The accused are held in prisons during the course of their trial.
OpIndia talked to a high-ranking police official in Tripura, who on the condition of anonymity, further explained the process to us.
He added that the local courts (based on the degree of the offence committed by the illegal immigrant) impose fines and imprisonment. The infiltrators then serve time in prison and remain there until the completion of their sentence.
Once their term ends, the Bangladeshi infiltrators are deported to their home country by following the necessary SOPs. This includes handing them over to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) at the border.
The high-ranking police official pointed out that deportation becomes difficult in the absence of documents that establish the infiltrator’s Bangladeshi identity. In such circumstances, BGB refuses to accept these individuals.
Those infiltrators are then transferred to temporary detention centres unless the matter is resolved with the Bangladeshi authorities.
It must be mentioned that there is no specific treaty/ agreement between India and the Bangladeshi Government regarding the deportation of the latter’s citizens who entered India illegally.
In the absence of any treaty or agreement with the Bangladesh government, the number of deportations remains abysmally low.
Despite this, the Indian State of Tripura has deported 1,746 Bangladeshis between 2022 and 31st October 2024.
Tripura shares a 856-km-long border with Bangladesh on 3 sides, and some parts of the border are still unfenced owing to local disputes.
Illegal immigrants, who pose security threats to India, continue to make their way to Tripura without fear of being caught, only in the hopes of making their way to other parts of the country.
