15 Al-Queda suspects just illegal infiltrators

Imphal, Aug 21 (UNI) Fifteen foreigners, who were nabbed from Moreh Ward number 2, Pangal Basti, Chandel district along the Manipur- Myanmar border by the army on August 17 last have been identified as illegal immigrants.

The PRO of Assam Rifles said the 15 persons were illegal immigrants from Myanmar and had no link with the Al Qaeda, as thought earlier.

Earlier, reports had stated that the 15 who infiltrated into the border town from Myanmar were cadres of Al Qaeda.

The Assam Rifles PRO said that all the detained 15 are Myanmarese Muslims from Arakan. One of them had documents from Thailand and they had crossed over from Arakan to Bangladesh (Chittagong Hill Tracts) and thereafter arrived at Moreh via Tripura, Silchar and Imphal, added the statement.

The PRO informed that they were engaged in both manual and semi-skilled work.

UNI