BENGALURU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has charge-sheeted 12 Bangladeshi nationals in a massive human trafficking case, involving infiltration and trafficking of foreign nationals into India via the India-Bangladesh border.
The accused are Ferdous Bapari, Muhammed Oli Ullah, Amol Das, Masud Sarder, Sohag Gazi, Suman Shaik, Md Bellal, Md Mirazul Islam, Zakir Khan, Md Badal Houladar, Md Kabir Talukder, Gharami Mohamad Bashir Hosen, and Saudi Zakir.
They had also entered India illegally, without valid travel documents, and had fraudulently obtained Indian identity documents, the NIA stated in an official release on Tuesday.
NIA investigations have revealed that these men were “trafficked through porous Indo-Bangla border points in Benapole and Jashore near West Bengal, and Akhaura near Tripura, with the help of touts operating on both sides of the border”.
Eight of them had subsequently also been involved in the trafficking of several other Bangladeshi nationals similarly.
A total of 22 such victims of the accused have been identified so far by the agency, which has further found that the victims were lured into India on false promises of jobs and a better livelihood.
“The victims had paid the touts along the border for crossing into India and were directed to reach Bengaluru. Once they landed in the trafficker’s waste segregation godowns in the southern city, they were subjected to forced labour for meager wages and were confined in various sheds built especially for the purpose. Those who protested were threatened by the traffickers of landing in prison on account of being illegal migrants,” the agency added.
NIA’s earlier searches on the premises of the 12 charge-sheeted men and the two, absconding accused - Mohammed Sahajlal Haldar and Idrish - had led to the seizure of 61 Aadhaar cards along with other Indian identity documents obtained fraudulently.
“The investigations to uncover the modus operandi for procuring Indian identity documents are ongoing. The hunt for the absconding accused is also in progress,” stated the NIA.