BHUBANESWAR, Feb. 3 -- A Bhubaneswar court on Tuesday sentenced nine Bangladeshi nationals to two years of rigorous imprisonment for illegally entering India without valid documentation and imposed a fine of Rs.10,000 on each convict.

The group, which included three women, was arrested in March 2025 aboard a train travelling from Assam in India's northeast toward the southern coast, inspector Manoj Kumar Sethi of Odisha police's special task force (STF), who investigated the case, said.

Sethi said the group was found guilty under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, which prescribes a maximum punishment of five years for violations. If the convicts fail to pay the Rs.10,000 fine, they will serve an additional three months of rigorous...