The security forces in Mizoram have arrested 12 Myanmar traders for illegally entering the State since the lockdown began on March 25.
Officials said the 12, arrested under the Foreigners Act of 1946, were in a district jail in Champhai near the border with Myanmar. They were put in jail after completing a 14-day stay in a designated quarantine centre.
Other foreigners detained before the pandemic struck the country include more than 30 Rohingya women, six members of the Myanmar-based extremist group Arakan Army and a Chinese national, Inspector General of Prisons Maria C.T. Zuali told newspersons in Mizoram capital Aizawl.
The Arakan Army has been in conflict with the Myanmar government since its formation in April 2009. Among its opponents is the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.
Ms. Zuali said the Arakan Army members were in a district jail in Lawngtlai while the Chinese traveller who entered the State without valid documents was in the Aizawl central jail. “The Rohingya women, who are suspected to be victims of human trafficking, are being detained at a facility in Vairangte on the Assam-Mizoram border. Efforts are on to send them to a corrective home before deportation.”
Ms. Zuali said 327 prisoners were released on parole after the Centre sought a decongestion of jails to minimise the risk of COVID-19 infection. Of these, 48 were nearing the completion of their prison term.
