Thirty-one Rohingya Muslims have been detained in India after a standoff at the country's border with Bangladesh when both sides refused to accept the group, police said Tuesday.

As many as 1,300 Rohingya have entered Bangladesh from India in recent weeks in an exodus sparked by recent deportations to neighbouring Myanmar, where the stateless group have been subject to persecution.

The latest group, which included 17 children, were stuck in limbo for three days after crossing barbed wire fences on the Indian side of the border, before Bangladeshi border guards handed them over to Indian authorities.

The group were then detained in northeastern Tripura state and charged with "entering the country illegally", according to an Indian police spokesman.

"They are in police custody and will be presented to a local court tomorrow for further orders," he told AFP.

New Delhi had been notified that the Rohingya were in Indian custody and the UN refugee agency would also be alerted, the spokesman added.

Some 40,000 Rohingya live in India but in recent weeks New Delhi has arrested members of the minority and turned them over to Myanmar, prompting sharp criticism from the UN and rights groups.