Reported by Mrinal Banik
Agartala: Eight Bangladeshi nationals were detained by the Airport Police Station in Agartala over the past 24 hours for allegedly attempting to travel outside Tripura after entering the state illegally, police said on Sunday.
The detentions were made following specific inputs that four Bangladeshi nationals would arrive in Tripura and attempt to leave the state through Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport.
Acting on the information, police launched a surveillance operation at the airport on Saturday and intercepted four individuals suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals.
During interrogation, investigators obtained fresh leads regarding the movement of other persons allegedly involved in the same network. Based on the information, police conducted further searches in the airport area and detained four more Bangladeshi nationals.
According to police, all eight detainees are adult males and were allegedly planning to travel outside the state after entering Tripura illegally.
The four persons detained earlier have already been remanded to police custody, while the remaining four were produced before a local court on Sunday. Police sought their custodial interrogation to ascertain the circumstances leading to their entry into India and their subsequent movement.
Investigators are examining the route through which the men entered Tripura, their intended destination and whether they were assisted by an organised human trafficking or illegal immigration network.
Police are also trying to establish if any local facilitators or intermediaries were involved in arranging their movement from the international border to the airport.
Officials said the investigation is focused on identifying possible links in the suspected network and verifying whether the detainees were travelling independently or as part of a coordinated operation.
Further investigation is underway.