The police have arrested a group of 17 Bangladeshis in Biswanath district of Assam, India for violating norms of their tourist visas as they allegedly carried out religious preaching.
The law enforcement agency nabbed them in the remote Baghmari area in the Gingia region of the district, NDTV reported on Saturday.
They visited Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan and also places in Cooch Behar of West Bengal before going to Assam.
The group is led by a man named Syed Ashraful Alam.
The police said he was warned against religious preaching – which is not allowed on tourist visas – in August as well.
Superintendent of Biswanath Police Navin Singh said: “There is no tourist attraction in Baghmari area, which is why we wanted to know why these foreigners were here. They are members of a particular sect. We also verified details of those who accompanied them for their religious preaching. They entered Assam in batches on different dates.”
They started coming to India in groups starting August 24.
Meanwhile, Ashraful, the leader of the group, told reporters while in custody that they had relatives in the area and had been visiting their places.