Guwahati: Twenty-seven Bangladeshi nationals were apprehended in Assam late Wednesday after allegedly crossing into India illegally through the Dawki border point in Meghalaya and using Guwahati as a transit hub to move to other parts of the country.The arrests were made in two batches — 12 from the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) campus at Paltanbazar in Guwahati and 15 from the Guwahati-Jammu Tawi Express after Rangiya. The second group was handed over to the Government Railway Police (GRP) at Bongaigaon, Guwahati DCP (border) Kulendra Nath Deka said.Police said the group comprised 16 men and 11 women. They have confessed to having come from Dhaka, Sunamganj, Bagerhat, Gopalganj, Khulna and Mymensingh districts of Bangladesh.“Their journey was organized through a tout network, travelling from Mymensingh to the Bangladesh-Meghalaya zero point, crossing on foot into Dawki, then moving by small cars to Jorabat before switching to an autorickshaw for Guwahati. They had entered the city on the day of their arrests,” the official said.Police said the case points to the continued use of the Dawki-Guwahati route by illegal cross-border networks. After crossing into Meghalaya, such groups allegedly use road transport to reach Guwahati, from where railway and bus links provide access to several parts of the country.The ASTC campus at Paltanbazar and railway stations in the city are often crowded, making it easier for people to merge with regular passenger movement before boarding long-distance trains such as the Jammu Tawi Express, officials said.A security source said the latest interception was not likely to be an isolated case. “With touts operating an organised pipeline from Bangladeshi districts through Dawki to Guwahati’s transport hubs, and onward rail links offering near-instant access to the rest of India,” a security source said.He added the case exposes a structural gap. “Intense vigilance at the international border is not matched by equivalent scrutiny at interior transit points like Guwahati, where illegal migrants once past the first line of defence can move largely undetected. Unless surveillance is extended meaningfully into these secondary transit corridors the flow through Dawki and similar unfenced stretches will remain difficult to fully arrest,” the source added.The DCP said legal proceedings against the 27 apprehended persons are underway and authorities are working on their repatriation to Bangladesh.“We are also probing the extent of the tout network’s reach and whether the group paid for passage,” he added.ROUTE TRACE: BANGLADESH → MEGHALAYA → ASSAMBangladesh— from Dhaka, Sunamganj, Bagerhat, Gopalganj, Khulna and Mymensingh districts↓Mymensingh meeting point↓ BusBangladesh–Meghalaya Zero Point↓ Crossed on footDawki, Meghalaya↓ small carsJorabat, Assam-Meghalaya border↓ AutorickshawASTC Campus, Paltan Bazar, Guwahati↓Border Branch interception — 12 personsSECOND GROUPGuwahati↓ Jammu Tawi Express trainRangiya — 15 intercepted after Rangiya↓Bongaigaon↓ Handed over to GRPTotal intercepted: 27Guwahati: 12 | Bongaigaon: 15Men: 16 | Women: 11
