Agartala, September 18, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Three Bangladeshi women and an alleged Indian tout were arrested near Agartala airport on Friday for allegedly entering Tripura without valid travel documents, police said.
The arrests were made by a team from the Agartala Airport police station following specific information about the movement of suspected Bangladeshi nationals in the area.
Airport police station in-charge Sub-Inspector Shyamal Debnath said the three women, all residents of Bangladesh’s Khulna district, were detained along with the alleged tout, identified as Mazarul Islam, a resident of the Jatrapur police station area in Tripura’s Sepahijala district.
During preliminary questioning, the women allegedly told police that they had entered India through the Sonamura border with Islam’s assistance. They were reportedly planning to board a flight from Agartala to Guwahati.
Police also recovered air tickets from Islam, according to Debnath.
The officer said the three women had allegedly entered Indian territory two days earlier without valid travel documents and subsequently planned to travel onwards to Guwahati.
The four accused were produced before a local court on Friday, where police sought five days’ custody for further investigation.
Debnath said investigators were examining the circumstances surrounding the women’s alleged entry into India and were working to identify others who may have assisted them.
A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Passports Act, the Foreigners Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, he said.
Police are also attempting to identify and apprehend other members of the suspected human trafficking network allegedly involved in facilitating the illegal entry and movement of Bangladeshi nationals into Tripura.
In recent months, security forces and police have arrested several Bangladeshi nationals, Rohingyas and suspected human traffickers at different locations across Tripura, including along the India-Bangladesh border and at Agartala Railway Station.
Tripura shares an 856-km-long border with Bangladesh and is surrounded by the neighbouring country on three sides. The state is consequently considered particularly sensitive to cross-border migration and related security concerns.
Most stretches of the international border have been fenced, barring some patches, as authorities seek to prevent smuggling, trans-border crime and unauthorised cross-border movement.
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