India cracks down on 'settlement of illegal immigrants,' including Rohingya; 44 arrested

ANKARA

India’s counter-terrorism law enforcement agency arrested 44 people Wednesday in raids across the country under an operation that is said was “aimed at dismantling illegal human trafficking support networks," including in disputed Jammu and Kashmir.

A spokesman for the National Investigation Agency said synchronized raids and searches were carried out at 55 locations following a case registered by police in northeastern Assam state which “pertained to a human trafficking network responsible for the infiltration and settlement of illegal migrants across the Indo-Bangladesh border into India, including those of Rohingya origin.”

Searches were carried out in the states of Tripura, Assam, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Haryana and Rajasthan, as well as the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry.

“Further investigations into the activities and modus operandi of these illegal human trafficking networks would continue to dismantle the entire ecosystem of these networks,” said the agency.

Earlier in the day, an official with the agency said a Rohingya man, Zaffar Alam, was taken into custody from his temporary residence in the Bathindi area of Jammu and Kashmir) around 2 a.m. local time, "while another accused is on the run."

The raids, the official added, were restricted to slums housing Rohingya refugees and were conducted in connection with a case involving a violation of the Passports Act and human trafficking.

Clashes were reported in July between Rohingya and government forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Hira Nagar Jail over their release or repatriation to Myanmar.

Around 270 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, have been lodged in the detention center for more than two years and have been intermittently protesting their continuous detention.