"Doomsday Moment": 19 Illegal Immigrants Caught In Assam Sent To Bangladesh

At a time when anti-India protests are being held in Bangladesh in the aftermath of activist Sharif Osman Hadi killing, the Assam Police and Border Security Force (BSF) have carried out a joint operation and sent 19 illegal immigrants back to Bangladesh.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described the move as a "full Doomsday moment" for infiltrators. "In a full Doomsday moment, @assampolice & BSF assembled and snapped 19 illegals from Nagaon and Karbi Anglong disappeared from India, reappeared in their hell hole. Message is crystal clear: Illegal stay in Assam? Endgame guaranteed," Sarma said in a post on X, stressing the state government's strong stance against illegal immigration.

Earlier this month, the District Magistrate of Assam's Nagaon asked 15 declared foreigners to leave the state within 24 hours, invoking powers under the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950.

They were asked to leave Assam via the Dhubri, Sribhumi or South Salmara-Mankachar route, all of which lead to Bangladesh. As per the orders, six of them are lodged at the Matia Transit Camp in Goalpara, five are at the 7th Assam Police Battalion in Charaikhola in Kokrajhar district, and the details of four were not mentioned.

According to the orders issued on December 17, all the individuals were declared foreigners by the Foreigners' Tribunals.

In November this year, the district administration in Sonitpur issued similar expulsion orders against five declared foreigners. However, police said the individuals cannot be traced and the deportation process did not progress.

Earlier this year, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said suspected foreigners would be pushed back directly after being detained by the police without an intervention from the Foreigners' Tribunals. Sarma said that during hearings related to Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court had observed that the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, remains valid, empowering District Magistrates to issue deportation orders once illegal migrants are detected by the police.

On May 30, Sarma said nearly 30,000 declared foreigners are missing in the state and that the detection and deportation drive would continue. He said the police are identifying two categories of foreigners: those who entered Assam illegally in recent years and those already declared foreigners by tribunals.

In a full Doomsday moment, @assampolice & BSF assembled and snapped 🫰💥.

19 illegals from Nagaon & Karbi Anglong disappeared from India, reappeared in their hell hole

Message is crystal clear: Illegal stay in Assam? Endgame guaranteed. pic.twitter.com/IFLTUPngxz

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) December 21, 2025

"We are doing this to protect this land from illegal migrants and to preserve the rights of the indigenous people," he said.

The Opposition, however, had raised concerns about the potential misuse of the 1950 law to target minorities and force them across the border.

The 1,885-kilometre Indo-Bangladesh border, which spans across five northeastern states, including Assam, remains a zone of high vigilance. Since the eruption of political unrest in Bangladesh last year, the BSF has significantly increased border patrolling and technological surveillance.

Osman Hadi, a key figure of the July uprising that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was shot at close range in Dhaka. He died during treatment. The killing triggered widespread violence in the Bangladesh capital, as mobs attacked the offices of newspapers and cultural organisations. A Hindu man, accused of making derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed, was beaten to death and his body set on fire in the middle of a highway. Investigators, however, have found no evidence of any derogatory remark.