Illegal immigration cases in Tripura up by 36% in two years: CM Saha

Agartala, May 13: Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, on Tuesday, asserted that cases against illegal immigrants entering into Tripura crossing the Indo-Bangla international borders registered an overall hike of 36% in the last two years.

“If compared 2023, the cases related to detention of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants increased by 18% in 2024. The overall spike in detention of Bangladeshis is recorded to be 36%,” the Chief Minister explained.

Speaking at a felicitation event for 975 newly recruited Tripura Police constables, the Chief Minister highlighted that illegal infiltration by Bangladesh nationals remains a critical issue, given that Tripura is geographically surrounded by Bangladesh on three sides.

“Our security agencies had been working relentlessly to foil infiltration bids and detain those who had crossed the borders illegally,” Saha said.

The Chief Minister highlighted that a three-layer security system has been put in place to prevent illegal infiltration in the state, adding that the Border Security Force (BSF) is the first line of defence in the borders.

“Apart from that, we have Tripura State Rifles troopers as the second line of security and in the third, Tripura Police personnel are keeping a close monitoring,” Saha said.

The Chief Minister also said that in terms of overall crime per population Tripura is far below the national average.

“At the national level, 422 cases are registered against every one lakh population while in Tripura that number is just 110,” said Dr Saha. He also shared a break-up on the basis of various types of crimes.

Stating that the crime rate is on the decline with every passing year, Dr Saha said, “In 2024, the total crime rate saw a fall of 19.4% compared to the previous year—2023. In the first four months of 2025, another 10% fall is recorded.”

The Chief Minister also revealed that due to enhanced surveillance and preventive action, cases related to RTAs (Road Traffic Accidents) also decreased substantially.

“We have detected 16 black spots and 80 accident prone zones. Adequate manpower has been deployed and interceptors had been pressed into action to deter traffic law violations. In 2024, RTA cases declined by 13% in comparison to 2023. We hope such cases will be reduced further. Due to systematic action of the police, overall crime saw a decline of 30% in the past decade,” he added.

Later speaking to the press, Dr Saha expressed his concerns over the ominous attempts of importing firearms in the state and said that police had been given free hand to deal with forces that wanted to disrupt the peace and harmony of the state.

It should be noted here that on Tuesday’s event 975 new recruits received appointment letters which include 332 female and 643 male aspirants.