Tripura HC waives jail terms for 4 Bangladeshis, directs govt to send them back

The Tripura high court has waived the remaining jail sentences of four Bangladeshi citizens convicted of illegally entering the country and ordered the government to repatriate them to Bangladesh.

A bench justice T Amarnath Goud delivered the order on Monday in two cases.

In the first case, police arrested a couple in the border district of Unakoti in February 2025 for entering the country in violation of the Passport (Entry into India) Act and the Foreigners Act.

Ratilal Das and his wife, Binita Rani Das, were among the 13 people detained by the Border Security Force (BSF) at Srirampur Manu bridge on February 27, 2025, on suspicion that they were Bangladeshi nationals. Three Indian nationals, accused of trying to smuggle the 13, were also caught.

During interrogation, the couple, residents of Moulvibazar in Bangladesh’s Sylhet division, failed to produce any valid identity document and later confirmed that they entered India from Bangladesh.

On November 1, 2025, an Unakoti court convicted Ratilal Das and Binita Rani Das for illegally entering the country and sentenced them to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and a Rs. 10,000 fine.

They challenged the verdict in the high court, requesting the bench to reduce their jail sentence so that they could go back since they didn’t misrepresent their identity from the beginning.

In response to queries from justice Goud, the state government told the high court that it would not object to their repatriation without completing the prison term. On Monday, the court modified the sentence and ordered their repatriation.

“The appellants shall be pushed back to their native country, Bangladesh. All necessary steps be taken by the State respondent to push back the appellants as per procedure. Till the appellants are pushed back to Bangladesh, they shall continue to stay in custody of the jail, but shall not be treated as convicts”, the court order said.

In the second case, two women were detained by the BSF on October 6, 2024, at the Ambassa railway station in Tripura’s Dhalai after they could not produce any papers to indicate that they were Indian nationals. A Dhalai court convicted Lija and Mansura Aktar of forgery and violating the Passport (Entry into India) Act and sentenced them to five years in prison. On a request from their counsel, they were also ordered to be repatriated to Bangladesh after modifying their prison term.