Illegal Bangladeshi immigrant arrested with pistol in Tripura ahead of Republic Day

Agartala, Jan 22 (PTI) An illegal Bangladeshi immigrant was arrested with a pistol in Agartala, police said on Wednesday.

Samajpriya Chakma, a resident of Bangladesh's Khagrachhari district, was arrested from a house in Adarsha Palli in the AD Nagar police station area of the city on Tuesday night, they said.

"A sophisticated pistol with three bullets was recovered from his possession. A total of Rs 2.21 lakh in Indian currency notes and Rs 25,000 in Bangladeshi currency were also seized from him," SDPO (Sadar) Debaprasad Roy told PTI.

He said Chakma rented a house in Adarsha Palli by identifying himself as an Indian citizen.

"The raid at the rented house was conducted on the basis of intelligence inputs. During the raid, he was alone in the house. A case under the Passports Act and Arms Act was registered," the officer said.

"We are trying to ascertain his motive behind living here for the last three-four months," he added.

SP of West Tripura Kiran Kumar said that following the arrest of the armed Bangladeshi man an alert was issued for the entire district as the state was preparing for Republic Day celebrations.

"Special raids are being carried out as part of heightened security ahead of the Republic Day. Additional forces have been deployed in Agartala. Security along the international border with Bangladesh has also been beefed up," he said. PTI PS SOM