Five residents of Dhobokata village in Sonitpur district have been directed to leave Assam within 24 hours after a Foreigners Tribunal confirmed them as non-citizens, invoking a colonial-era law that empowers the state to expel suspected illegal immigrants.
The District Magistrate’s office in Tezpur issued the expulsion orders on November 18, 2025, against Hanufa, Amjad Ali, Mariyam Nessa, Fatema, and Monowara. All five residents live under Jamugurihat police station. The orders cite the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, a law originally enacted to address post-Partition migration issues.
According to officials, the Foreigners Tribunal No. 2 in Sonitpur delivered its opinion on October 24, 2025, confirming all five individuals as foreigners in separate cases. These proceedings trace back to references made almost two decades ago by the Superintendent of Police (Border) in Tezpur, dated March 20, 2006. 
The expulsion orders state that, as declared foreigners, their “presence in India/Assam is detrimental to the interest of the general public and also for the internal security of the state.” The residents have been instructed to leave the state through designated exit routes via Dhubri, Sribhumi, or South Salmara-Mankachar.
District Commissioner Ananda Kumar Das warned that non-compliance would compel the government “to take appropriate action to remove you from the territory of the State of Assam, India under the provisions of the above Act.”
