NIA cracks 'massive' human trafficking case in Bengaluru involving Bangladeshis, Rohingyas

The NIA filed charge sheets against 36 accused including 16 Bangladeshi nationals and one Rohingya of Myanmar origin.

Guwahati: An international syndicate trafficked Bangladeshi nationals into Bengaluru and also made fake Indian identity documents to settle Rohingyas in many other parts of the country, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has said in two separate charge sheets filed in separate courts on Monday.

The charge sheets were filed against 36 accused including 16 Bangladeshi nationals and one Rohingya of Myanmar origin.

The investigating agency said the victims were trafficked through the porous India-Bangladesh 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.

The NIA said at least 22 such victims of trafficking have been identified so far. It said the victims were lured into India on false promises of jobs and a better livelihood.

"The victims had also paid the touts along the border for crossing into India and were directed to reach Bengaluru. Once they landed in the traffickers' 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," said a statement issued by the NIA on Tuesday.

The agency said a chargesheet was filed against 12 Bangladeshi nationals in a court in Bengaluru, following investigation into the "massive" human trafficking case, involving infiltration and trafficking of foreign nationals into India via the Indo-Bangladesh border.

The accused have been identified as Mohammad 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 and Saudi Zakir. They had also entered India illegally, without valid travel documents, and had fraudulently obtained Indian identity documents, the NIA said.

The agency said 61 Aadhar cards and other Indian identity documents were seized during searches conducted earlier on the houses of 12 accused.

Chargesheets filed in similar Assam case

The NIA also filed chargesheets against 24 accused in another similar human trafficking case registered last year in Assam. The chargesheeted accused include four Bangladesh nationals and one Rohingya of Myanmar origin.

"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 with the intention to settle them in various parts of the country," read the NIA statement.

The case was initially registered by Assam Police and was handed over to the NIA

The agency further said 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 Indo-Bangladesh border.

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 accused would prepare forged Indian identity documents, and also arrange bookings, shelters, transportation and their further travel to the hinterland, as per the investigational findings, the NIA said.

"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 by practising fraud and deception, with some Rohingya women also being sold to older men for marriage," it said.

Thousands of Rohingyas had fled to neighbouring Bangladesh since the ethnic clash broke out in Myanmar in 1997. Many of such refugees fell victims to the trafficking rackets.