Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday, January 5, said 13 foreign nationals trying to enter India illegally were nabbed and pushed back after apprehending them in the state.

He, however, did not share details such as where these infiltrators came from or their ethnicity.

“We are committed to ensuring the Rights of all Illegal Immigrants, their Right to be in their homeland, their Right to be PUSHED BACK. Respecting their rights, we pushed back 13 immigrants on the other side of the border,” Sarma said in a post on X.

Assam’s Sribhumi, Cachar, Dhubri and South Salmara-Mankachar districts share 267.5 km of the international border with Bangladesh.

There is an Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Sutarkandi in Sribhumi. Northeast has a total of three ICPs along the India-Bangladesh border and the other two are at Dawki in Meghalaya and Akhaura in Tripura.

There is another ICP in the region at Darranga in Assam along the India-Bhutan border.

Assam Police had earlier said that the state force and BSF would do everything possible to prevent any attempt by non-Indians to enter the country from Bangladesh as per the law after a political turmoil hit the neighbouring nation last year.

However, all Indian passport holders would be allowed to return from trouble-hit Bangladesh through the entry point in the state.