Sources in the border police said that records available with them suggest that out of the 19 inmates lodged in Silchar central jail, 11 were from Sylhet district of Bangladesh.

Guwahati: The Assam police on Saturday deported six Hindu and 14 Muslim Bangladeshi nationals, including a woman, to Bangldesh through the Sutarkandi (India)-Sheola (Bangladesh) border check post in Karimganj district of Assam.

Informing that all these 20 people were convicted for violation of either the Passports Act or the Foreigners Act, or both and had been lodged in Silchar jail, the border wing of the Assam Police said that most of these foreigners had confessed to cross over to India illegally to meet their relatives and were caught by the police.

Narrating their ordeal Ikbal Hussain Talukdar, who was arrested by Hailakandi police for illegally entering into India and had to serve five-year jail term in Silchar, told reporters, “I am happy to go back to my home after serving five years of prison here. I had come to meet my relatives here but without any proper visa.”

Another convict Alorani Das, who served a prison term of two and half years, said, “I came to meet my sister but didn’t have the money or the resources to travel with a valid travel document.”

Sources in the border police said that records available with them suggest that out of the 19 inmates lodged in Silchar central jail, 11 were from Sylhet district of Bangladesh. They are Shekhar Namasudra, Ikbal Hussain Talukdar, Ahmed Uddin, Md Ishak Ali, Md Azim Uddin, Sujit Chandra Das, Samir Ahmed, Abdul Gafur, Chand Ali, Alim Uddin alias Badal Miya alias Badal Biswas and Abdul Latif.

Rabindra Das, Digendra Chandra Das and Shah Ali Mia were residents of Kishoreganj while Md Ibrahim alias Ibrahim Talukdar and Faruk Mia were from Moulvi Bazaar and Sayed Al Amin were from Habiganj, Rabiul Sardar was from Gopalganj and Parimal Jaldas from Coxbazaar.

Alorani Das, the lone female Bangladeshi national deported was brought from Western Assam’s Kokrajhar as she was lodged in jail there.