Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated on Thursday that India has requested Bangladesh to expedite the process of verifying the citizenship of numerous Bangladeshi nationals currently residing in India illegally and awaiting deportation.

Highlighting that over 2,360 cases are pending—many since 2020—Jaiswal mentioned that several individuals have already completed their prison terms but cannot be deported due to delays in nationality confirmation. “It’s been nearly five years. We call on Bangladesh to speed up the verification,” he said.

The MEA emphasized that all foreign nationals residing in India without proper documentation, whether from Bangladesh or elsewhere, will be dealt with according to Indian law.

In recent developments, the Border Security Force (BSF) and Tripura Police detained 16 Bangladeshi nationals and five Indian citizens for illegally crossing the India-Bangladesh border at various locations in Tripura.

The BSF reported that nine Bangladeshi nationals—including four women and two children—were caught trying to cross the border near Manu Border Outpost in West Tripura. These individuals had allegedly been working illegally in private firms in Agartala for around two years.

Separately, the BSF seized smuggled goods including foreign cigarettes worth ₹50 lakh from the Srinagar area in South Tripura on Wednesday.

In another case, Tripura Police, with assistance from locals, apprehended five Bangladeshi nationals—two of them women—who had illegally entered Indian territory near Madhupur village in Sepahijala district. They are currently under interrogation.

Additionally, the BSF detained an Indian national from Tripura who had entered the state from Bangladesh without valid travel documents.

Tripura shares a porous 856-kilometer-long international border with Bangladesh.