Kolkata: Six persons including four females, suspected to be Rohingyas, were arrested by the police at Habra in North 24 Parganas for allegedly entering India from Bangladesh through the border between the two countries. This would be the first time any member from the Rohingya community to get arrested in the state if their background is confirmed. The police is verifying their origin.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee earlier came out in support of offering shelter to the Rohingyas.

The six accused are Mohammed Josim (45), Hosseinara (18), Romida (18), Mumtaz (22) and two children of Mumtaz: Rozia Fatema (5) and Rahman (3). They were found moving around suspiciously on Tuesday afternoon at Maslandapur bus-stand, sources revealed. At around 12 pm the group was detained by police for questionning.

Grilling the six persons the cops, however, learnt that they had come to Bangladesh from Myanmar before entering India with the help of a tout who guided them to cross the border, according to sources claiming that the group was going to Jammu and Kashmir which stumbled the investigators. Later they were arrested and were produced at the district court on Wednesday.

In the evening Special Superintendent of Police (Coordination) of North 24 Parganas C Sudhakar said, “They have been booked on charges under the Foreigners’ Act. They have been taken into the police custody. It is not clear where they are originally from. We are verifying their origin to ascertain if they are Rohingyas or not.”

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