Agartala:

Twenty-three Bangladeshi nationals preparing to board a train to Chennai were arrested at Agartala railway station, an official said on Sunday.

Based on specific information, a joint team from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Border Security Force (BSF), and Government Railway Police (GRP) conducted a raid at Agartala station on Saturday evening and detained the Bangladeshi nationals who did not have valid documents to travel on Indian soil, officer-in-charge of GRP police station in Agartala, Tapas Das, said.

They were remanded to three-day police custody after being presented before a local court, he added.

The arrested people, aged between 21 and 49, had planned to travel to Chennai via Guwahati in search of employment.

In response to the increase in arrests of Bangladeshi nationals at Agartala station, the BSF’s intelligence wing has enhanced its surveillance in and around railway stations.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Agartala:

Tripura government on Wednesday said that 1790 persons were infected by HIV/AIDS with a positivity rate of 0.92 per cent during 2023-24.

The officials said as part of the National AIDS Control Programme, the government has taken a series of measures to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in the state.

Tripura State AIDS Control Society Project Director Samarpita Dutta said that in 2022-23, sixty seven people including two students died and in 2023-24, forty four people died after being infected by HIV/AIDS.

During 2022-23, new HIV/AIDS infection was detected among 1847 people with a positivity rate of infection was 0.89 per cent.

Dutta said that the National AIDS Control Programme has been implemented in Tripura since April, 1999.

Between April 2007 and May 2024, 828 students registered as PLHIV (People Living With HIV/AIDS) and 47 of them died during the period of 17 years.

“Tripura State AIDS Control Society has taken all initiatives to control the menace as per specific guidelines and action plan designed by National AIDS Control Organization,” Dutta told the media.

She said that 828 students registered over the last many years in ART centres are all getting free Anti Retroviral Treatment as per NACO guidelines.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, who himself is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon and served in a key position at a medical college here before becoming Chief Minister, said that the state government has taken various measures to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in the state.

“It has come to our notice that some recent media reports have led to misgivings on the number of infected students and fatalities. It has been clarified by the department concerned that a total of 828 students in Tripura have tested HIV positive and 47 have lost lives over a period of 17 years (from April, 2007 to May, 2024).

“All affected students have received or have been receiving free Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) as per the NACO guidelines,” Saha, who also holds the Health and Family Welfare portfolio, said in a post on the X.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Agartala:

At least 30 girl students fell ill after having a meal at a hostel run by an NGO in West Tripura district on Thursday, an official said.

The state government ordered an inquiry into the suspected food poisoning of girl students of Bodhjung Higher Secondary School and Maharani Tulsibati School, West Tripura District Magistrate Vishal Kumar told reporters.

The girl students of the two government schools resided in the NGO-hostel in Indranagar area and had the meal before going to their respective institutions.

“Two girls first complained of stomach pain and soon, more students reported the same issue. The students were taken to GBP Hospital,” he said.

“Food samples were collected from the hostel for scrutiny. We will take appropriate steps if anything adverse is found in the food served to the girl students by the hostel authorities. The condition of the students is stated to be stable,” he said.

Chief Minister Manik Saha, who visited the students at the hospital, said it appeared to be a case of food poisoning.

“The students are stable… the government has ordered an inquiry into the incident for taking necessary steps,” the CM added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)