Guwahati: Twelve Bangladeshi nationals, including three minors, were detained near the ASTC bus stand in Goalpara town on Saturday after allegedly entering India in search of employment.Police said preliminary investigations suggested that the group may have been duped by middlemen who promised them jobs and later abandoned them.The detained persons, all reportedly from Moulvibazar district in northeastern Bangladesh, allegedly entered India through Meghalaya a few days ago before travelling to Assam.“They entered India through Meghalaya and someone left them in Guwahati. Later, they reached Goalpara in search of work. During interrogation, police came to know that they are Bangladeshi nationals,” a senior police officer said.One of the detainees alleged that a Bangladeshi middleman had taken the group through forest routes after promising them lucrative employment. “The middleman told me that he will arrange a salary of Rs 50,000. We were not aware of the routes, but we know we stayed two days in Guwahati,” he said.Police sources said the group’s mobile phones were allegedly retained by the people who brought them across the border.The 12 have been shifted to the Matia detention centre in Goalpara district. Formalities for their deportation are expected to be undertaken by the district administration under applicable legal provisions, police said.The detention comes amid a wider police crackdown on suspected Bangladeshi nationals in Assam. Nearly 80 people were reportedly apprehended in Guwahati this week.Police sources said some of those detained in Guwahati had allegedly fled Srinagar following a recent crackdown by Jammu and Kashmir Police on Bangladeshi immigrants.
