17 Bangladeshi nationals, including a 'religious preacher', held in Assam for violating visa norms

Biswanath: Seventeen Bangladeshis, including a "religious preacher", were arrested from a remote location in Assam's Biswanath district on Saturday on charges of violating visa norms, a senior police officer said. Those arrested had previously visited religious places in other parts of India, the officer said. Biswanath superintendent of police Navin Singh told PTI that the group was apprehended from the Baghmari area of the district. They had reached Biswanath on September 13 by bus from Cooch Behar district in West Bengal and were engaged in "religious preaching", he said.

"Syed Ashraful Alam, a preacher, was leading the group", with the other members being his "followers", the SP said. "The religious preacher was engaged in spreading his teachings in remote areas of Baghmari and had already taken 500 people there as his disciples.

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The police officer said the group had visited other religious places like Ajmer Sharif before coming to Assam. "We had a tip-off that these 17 people were engaging in activities like religious preaching, which is not allowed by foreigners entering on a tourist visa. We verified the information and arrested them," Singh added.