AGARTALA : Fourteen Bangladeshi nationals and five Indian facilitators were arrested from three locations in Tripura, police said on Monday.

In Sidhai Police Station under West District, Tripura Police detained more than 7 Bangladeshi nationals who are transgenders on Sunday late at night based on a tip-off.

“We have received information that two Indian touts have helped 8 Bangladeshi nationals in crossing the border and two auto drivers also engaged there to felicitate them.

With the help of locals, we have detained eight Bangladeshi nationals and four Indians who have helped them to enter Tripura. They have failed to provide any legal documents”, said a Tripura Police official.

Acting on specific information about the presence of a group of Bangladeshi citizens at Lamprapara in Gumati district, police conducted a raid and arrested eight of them on Sunday, Assistant Inspector General (Law and Order) Ananta Das said in a statement.

On Saturday night, seven Bangladeshi nationals and five Indian facilitators were arrested from the Sidhai area in the West Tripura district. In a separate operation, three Bangladeshi nationals were apprehended from the MBB Airport area in West Tripura on Monday.

Das said the arrests were part of an intensified border vigil aimed at preventing any intrusion attempts following the recent political changes in Bangladesh.”The arrest of 18 Bangladeshi nationals has been possible due to increased border surveillance. We will continue patrolling in coordination with BSF personnel,” Das said.