Assam Police launches investigation after 5 minor Rohingyas flee

Silchar: Assam Police have launched an investigation to track down the five minor Rohingyas who fled from an observation home at Silchar in the Cachar district earlier this month.

The five minors were apprehended along with their guardians by police in Silchar on May 29 after they were found travelling without any valid documents.

As many as 26 Rohingyas, including 12 children, six men and eight women, who came from Jammu and Kashmir were detained by police at Central Road in Silchar on May 29 after they failed to produce any valid documents.

Later, they were arrested, and the adults were sent to Silchar detention centre located inside Silchar central jail. The minors, on the other hand, were sent to a state-run observation home at Meherpur in Silchar.

A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had visited Silchar following the incident and quizzed the Rohingyas at the detention centre.

Sources said that the superintendent of the observation home had reported the matter to the police. As per the complainant, seven minor boys, including five minor Rohingyas, escaped from the observation home on July 1. He appealed to the police authorities to investigate the matter and track down the escapees.

As per information available from the observation home, most of the rooms were under floodwaters since June 20, and the children took advantage of the situation. They broke a wall of the observation home and managed to flee. The five minor Rohingyas escaped with two local children also staying at the centre.

Cachar superintendent of police Ramandeep Kaur told reporters that they have received a complaint, and a probe into the matter is underway.

“We received a complaint recently, and we are investigating the matter. Our team is trying to arrest them first, and after that, we will interrogate them. We are also trying to find how they managed to escape from the observation home,” Kaur said.

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