BENGALURU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested two absconding Bangladeshi nationals in a Bangladesh human trafficking case, taking the total arrests to 14.
In an official release on Friday, the NIA stated that the absconders, Mohammed Sajjid Haldar and Idris, were arrested from Karnataka following massive searches conducted by the Central counter-terrorism agency. “The duo had been on the run, and were tracked and nabbed on Thursday night with the assistance of the Internal Security Division (ISD) of Karnataka police,” the agency stated.
The NIA, which had busted the racket in November 2023 following nationwide raids, found during investigations that Haldar and Idris had illegally crossed into India via Benapole at the Indo-Bangladesh border, set up waste segregation units in Bengaluru city and also employed other allegedly trafficked Bangladeshi nationals in their covert operations.
Haldar had set up a waste collection and segregation unit at K Channasandra in Ramamurthy Nagar in Bengaluru, and employed other Bangladeshi nationals. Idris had also set up a waste collection and segregation unit at Anandapura in the city, where he had leased out land and set up tents for more than 20 Bangladeshi families, who were suspected to have been trafficked by him. Investigation to corroborate these details is continuing.
The NIA had registered the case (RC-01/2023/NIA/BLR) on November 7 last year after receiving credible inputs about certain Karnataka-based persons having links with facilitators and traffickers in Assam, Tripura and countries across the border. “The linkages had exposed a large network of traffickers engaged in smuggling individuals into India through the Indo-Bangladesh border. The accused were also involved in fabricating and providing fake Aadhaar cards to the victims,” the NIA added.
The agency, which had earlier arrested and charge-sheeted 12 Bangladeshi nationals under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) 1967, is continuing to crack down on traffickers active along the Indo-Bangladesh border.