Shillong, Apr 20: In Meghalaya, 5,970 illegal immigrants who were convicted have been deported to their respective countries during the past 46 years since 1972.

In a reply to an unstarred question, chief minister Conrad K Sangma said out of 5,995 illegal immigrants convicted from 1972 to 2018, 5,970 were deported to their respective countries only after completion of their sentence period by the Immigration Check Posts through BSF.

He said that 25 of them are still lodged in various jails of the state till March 2018.

The number of illegal immigrants detected and prosecuted during 2010 was 133, 2011 (156), 2012 (268), 2013 (169), 2014 (74), 2015 (71), 2016 (115), 2017 (34) and only 4 till March, this year.