Kolkata/New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered a case against an alleged human trafficking syndicate that facilitated the infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals into India and then sent them to like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennal, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
This illegal entry is being facilitated through vulnerable stretches of the Indo-Bangladesh Border, the NIA has said, highlighting the importance of fencing the entire border at the earliest.
Sahabuddin Mondal, a resident of Bongaon in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal and six of his associates have been named in the case, as reported by News18.
The group was part of an organised network that helped a large number of Bangladeshi nationals cross into India through unfenced portions of the border in exchange for huge sums of money, investigators have alleged.
Bongaon and Bagda, along the Indo-Bangladesh Border have been identified as the key infiltration points by the agency. The infiltrators were allegedly moved by road to Howrah railway station after crossing over into India. Railway tickets were then arranged to transport them to different parts of the country.
The network facilitated the movement of illegal entrants to cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, the NIA has said.
The syndicate was not merely involved in illegal border crossings but also in creating a well-established transit route that enabled infiltrators to disperse quickly across India, it is being suspected.
The operation points to a much larger conspiracy with possible international links, officials believe and the agency is now probing the broader network, financial transactions, and overseas connections behind the alleged racket. The accused were running an organised human trafficking syndicate and had infiltrated a significant number of Bangladeshi nationals into India over a period of time, officials believe.
Describing the case as a matter with serious implications for national security and border management, the NIA has said the ease with which illegal entrants allegedly crossed through unguarded stretches highlights vulnerabilities that require immediate attention.
The matter has turned the spotlight on the delay in fencing the entire Indo-Bangladesh Border in West Bengal. Security agencies like the Border Security Force (BSF) have claimed that their demands for land for the purpose went unheard by the successive state governments.
It was only after the BJP government came to power in West Bengal recently that land for fencing was released. In fact, illegal infiltration was a major poll plank for the BJP during the Assembly elections in the state this year.
State authorities have said that since assuming office, the government under chief minister Suvendu Adhikari has handed over around 1,025 acres of land to the BSF to facilitate fencing work. Union home minister Amit Shah is also scheduled to visit border areas in West Bengal to review the progress of fencing operations and assess measures aimed at strengthening border security.
It now remains to be seen whether the alleged network had links with politicians in the state. After all, such a major racket cannot operate without “connections” at the right place, officials have said.
