Guwahati: Assam repatriated 1,679 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in the last two years, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said Monday.Replying to AIUDF MLA Badruddin Ajmal in the assembly, Sarma said, “A total of 1,679 illegal immigrants have been repatriated (deported/sent back/expelled) from Assam to Bangladesh in the last two years.”He said the repatriations took place between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2026, after the immigrants were identified. No identified illegal immigrant is repatriated if an appeal is pending in the high court or Supreme Court, he said.On the procedure to push back infiltrators, Sarma said citizenship was a central subject, and the state followed existing laws and directions issued by the Centre.“Assam govt does not deal directly with any other foreign country, bypassing the Centre. The state govt implements the provisions of law and directions issued by the Centre on the matter. While implementing such laws and directions, enough safeguards are put in place so that the human rights of an individual are not violated,” Sarma added.Replying to Congress MLA Nurul Islam, Sarma said Assam currently has 91,385 doubtful voters, or D-voters, in its electoral rolls. Sonitpur has the highest number at 13,719, followed by Barpeta with 8,081, while Udalguri and Nagaon have over 7,800 each.He said the marking of “D” against voters with disputed or doubtful citizenship has been in force since 1997 under Election Commission directives.Sarma said 56,728 D-voters were declared foreigners by Foreigners’ Tribunals, while 831 such persons who appealed were declared foreigners by the high court. Another 65,171 D-voters were declared Indians by tribunals, while the Gauhati HC and Supreme Court declared 42 and three persons, respectively, as Indian citizens.Replying to Congress MLA Wazed Ali Choudhury, Sarma said Assam had 1,99,596 D-voters when the exercise began in 1997.
