NEW DELHI: Four women were stopped from boarding an Air India Express flight from Agartala to Kolkata on Sunday after security personnel suspected they were Bangladeshi nationals.
The group was scheduled to fly from Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport on Air India Express flight IX-1996, which was due to depart at 4.40pm.
An official of the Central Industrial Security Force said, “Our personnel deployed at the departure gate noticed two female passengers suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals. We alerted the Tripura police immigration personnel present at the gate who intervened and cross checked their documents.”
During the verification process, immigration staff found that the two women had arrived at the airport with two other women.
“Those two had already completed their check-ins and had entered the Security Hold Area (SHA) of the airport through boarding gates no. 4 and 5. They were tracked and brought back to the check-in area for further verification,” he said.
After further verification, Tripura Police immigration personnel detained all four passengers. “The passengers have been handed over to the Airport Police for further verification and necessary action,” the source added.
An Air India Express source confirmed the incident.
“There were four no-shows at the gate reported by our team. This term refer to flyers who collect the boarding pass but do not board the flight,” he said, adding that the four never boarded the plane.
Several incidents involving suspected Bangladeshi nationals at airports in the Northeast have been reported in recent weeks.
On June 28, Tripura Police detained eight individuals near Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals.
On July 1, 2026, two Bangladeshi nationals were detained at Guwahati airport during checks before they were due to board an Akasa Air flight to Mumbai.
