Human trafficking case: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has charge-sheeted 24 accused, which includes five from Bangladesh and Myanmar, in connection with a human trafficking case in Assam, an official said on Tuesday.
The charge sheet was filed before the NIA Special Court in Assam's Guwahati against the operatives of international syndicates involved in the trafficking of nationals of Bangladesh and Rohingya people of Myanmar into India using forged documents. The accused including four from Bangladesh and one from Myanmar, were charged under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Foreigners Act and the Passport (Entry into India) Act and Rules, the official said.
33 people arrested by NIA
A total of 29 persons were initially arrested by the NIA in massive raids conducted in 39 locations in Tripura, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, and West Bengal in coordination with the state police agencies in November last year.
A large number of incriminating documents, forged Indian identity documents, bank documents and digital devices were seized during the raids. Subsequently, based on investigational leads, four more accused were apprehended from Tripura in December 2023, taking the total number to 33.
The case was initially registered by Assam Police under the Passport Act 1967 against some anti-social elements, following credible inputs that the organised human trafficking syndicates were involved in trafficking Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas of Myanmar origin into India with forged documents for carrying out anti-India activities. The NIA subsequently took over the case and re-registered it.
Here's what investigations revealed
According to the NIA, the investigations revealed that international human trafficking syndicates were active along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Tripura, Assam, West Bengal and other areas.
"These syndicates were regularly trafficking Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, and preparing forged Indian identity documents to settle them in various parts of the country. The network also had linkages with facilitators and traffickers operating in other parts of the country and across the border, as part of a larger network engaged in human trafficking activities through the India-Bangladesh border," the NIA said.
Investigations further revealed that the syndicates on both sides of the border conspired and offered inducements to obtain the consent of the trafficked individuals, the spokesperson said, adding the accused would prepare forged Indian identity documents, and also arrange bookings, shelters, transportation and their further travel to other parts of India.
The traffickers exploited the victims and arranged their employment in various unorganised sectors on meagre earnings and settled them in different parts of the country.
The trafficked girls and women were exploited in various other forms, with some Rohingya women also being sold to older men for marriage, the official said. The NIA said Indian identity documents were obtained by the Bangladeshi nationals in connivance with local bodies on fake or forged supporting documents and certificates furnished by local officials.
NIA chargesheets 12 Bangladeshi nationals in another case
The NIA charge-sheeted 12 Bangladeshi nationals in a massive human trafficking case, involving infiltration and trafficking of foreign nationals into India via the Indio-Bangladesh border.
The accused have been identified as MD Ferdous Bapari, Muhammed Oli Ullah, Amol Das, Masud Sarder, MD Sohag Gazi, Suman Shaik, Sk. Md. Bellal, Md Mirazul Islam, Zakir Khan, Md Badal Houladar, Md. Kabir Talukder, Gharami Mohamad Bashir Hosen, Saudi Zakir. They had also entered India illegally, without valid travel documents, and had fraudulently obtained Indian identity documents.
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, NIA investigations have revealed.
Eight of them had subsequently also been involved in the trafficking of several other Bangladeshi nationals in a similar manner, according to NIA investigations. 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 meagre wages and were confined in various sheds built specially for the purpose. Those who protested were threatened by the traffickers of landing in prison on account of being illegal migrants.
NIA searches earlier of the premises of the 12 chargesheeted men, as well as two absconding accused Mohammed Sahajlal Haldar and Idrish, had led to the seizure of 61 Aadhar cards along with other Indian identity documents obtained fraudulently. Investigations to uncover the modus operandi for procuring Indian identity documents are continuing. The hunt for the absconding accused is also in progress.
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