PTI, AGARTALA/NEW DELHI: The BSF Tuesday handed over the 31 Rohingya Muslims, who were stranded on the India-Bangladesh border for four days, to Tripura Police, even as 30 more community members were apprehended in Assam, officials said.
The 31 Rohingyas, who had apparently come from Jammu and Kashmir, were stuck in no-man’s land, beyond the barbed wire fence along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Tripura since January 18.
The situation had led to a blame game between the Border Security Force (BSF) and its counterpart — Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) — with the two sides accusing each other of pushing them into their territories.
The decision to hand over the Rohingyas to the Tripura Police was taken after the BSF and the BGB failed to reach a decision during talks on the issue.
The 31 Rohingyas underwent a medical check-up and were later produced before a court in West Tripura district which sent them to 14-day judicial custody, the officials said.
Deputy Inspector General of the BSF Brijesh Kumar said, “We took the matter up with the BGB and requested them to take the Rohingyas back to Bangladesh. They denied. Several rounds of talks with the BGB had failed. So, we handed them over to police.”
A battalion commander-level meeting was held at the Zero Line on Sunday, the officials said.
Officials in New Delhi said the BSF informed the Home Ministry about the final result of the talks and gave it the situation report.
After receiving the ministry’s nod, the BSF signed the papers and handed over the 31 Rohingyas to the staff of the Amtoli police station in West Tripura district police at 11 am, ending the standoff with their Bangladeshi counterparts.
The officials added that the state police will verify the details of the Rohingyas, and the BSF has been asked to render assistance for the task.
It is suspected that these people had travelled to the border area from Jammu and Kashmir, the officials said adding, that the truth can only be established after an investigation.
