Eight Rohingyas arrested in Tripura

GUWAHATI: Tripura police on Wednesday detained eight Rohingyas. These persons were picked up from the Khayerpur area while they were moving suspiciously.

Among them three are man, two woman and three are children. They were taken to Ranirbazar police station under west Tripura District.

A senior police officer said, "Locals had informed the police about the movement of suspicious persons in the locality. During questioning, the detained individuals said they came from Kashmir and were going to Bangladesh in search of jobs. They have UNHCR refugee cards. It is possible that they came here with the purpose to sneak into Bangladesh."

The North East region shares an over 4,500-km border with Bangladesh, China, Myanmar and Bhutan. The Union Home Ministry had already sounded an alert to the North Eastern states about the Rohingya risk.

India and Bangladesh share a 4,096-km long border, of which a 262 km stretch runs along the state of Assam.

There is a free-movement regime in place between India and Myanmar, which allows movement of ethnic communities living on either side to travel 16km across the boundary without a visa.