Centre should be blamed for illegal immigration from Bangladesh: West Bengal minister

Senior West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim's assertion came in the wake of the BJP attacking the West Bengal government following the arrest of suspected Ansar-al-Islam Bangladesh members who were allegedly trying to spread the terror outfit's network in the eastern state.

Kolkata: Senior West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim on Sunday said that the Centre should be held responsible for unabated illegal migration from Bangladesh.

His assertion came in the wake of the BJP attacking the West Bengal government following the arrest of suspected Ansar-al-Islam Bangladesh members who were allegedly trying to spread the terror outfit's network in the eastern state.

He was asked about reports that two of the eight arrested terrorists were working to set up a sleeper cell in Murshidabad district and one of them, a Bangladeshi national, had even procured fake identity card and passport to carry on subversive activities.

"The onus lies with the Union Home Ministry which is helmed by Amit Shah. Why is he not taking steps to strengthen security along the Bangladesh border? Why is the Border Security Force not succeeding to stop infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals? "We have been repeatedly asking the Centre to step up border surveillance but it seems Shah is more busy belittling B R Ambedkar and flaunting his anti-Dalit mindset than stopping infiltration by forces that are a threat to the security of the country," Hakim told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

Hakim was alluding to certain comments made by Shah in Parliament early this week which triggered a massive row and countrywide protests by opposition parties, including Congress and TMC, against Shah and the BJP.

Hakim said the state police, acting on the specific intelligence inputs, busted the terror module in collaboration with police forces of other states and showed the state administration is working 24x7 to flush out all "conspirators from the neighbouring countries and their aides here".

"We have zero tolerance for any subversive activity and illegal immigration. But the Centre should do its job," he said.

BJP's IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya said in a post on X, "Illegal infiltrators obtaining voting rights have become a significant part of the TMC's voter base, enabling their continued grip on power. Immediate and decisive action is essential to address this grave threat to democracy and national security." Claiming that West Bengal urgently needs a thorough revision and cleanup of its voter list to address alarming security and electoral integrity concerns, Malviya said, "Assam Police Special DGP Harmeet Singh has revealed that after a regime change in Bangladesh, the caretaker government released Jasimuddin Rahmani, leader of Al-Qaeda's South Asian affiliate, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), from prison. Since then, Rahmani has ramped up efforts to expand ABT's operations in India, focusing on Assam and West Bengal to establish footholds and incite unrest across the region." "Currently, ABT's activities are concentrated in Murshidabad, where evidence links them to trafficking women into terror networks. Police have recently arrested eight terrorists associated with the group," Malviya said.

"In a startling development, it was discovered that one of these terrorists, Shada Rati Sheikh, operating under the direction of Farhan Ishraq, right-hand man of Ansarul Bangla chief Jasimuddin Rahmani, holds voter ID cards for two separate constituencies -- Kandi and Hariharpara -- in Murshidabad, West Bengal... Notably, after the Khagragarh bomb blast involving Bangladeshi terrorists, she dismissed it as an RSS conspiracy, and her administration allegedly destroyed evidence under the then Bardhaman OC's supervision. This incident is just the tip of the iceberg," he alleged.

Reacting to the allegations, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh accused the BJP of politicising the serious issue of national security, forgetting the Centre's role in guarding the frontiers.

He also commended the state police for tracking the terrorists and arresting them, busting the terror module with support from police forces of other states.

On Friday, ADG Supratim Sarkar had told reporters that the duo was part of a group of eight people apprehended by West Bengal, Kerala and Assam Police.

Inquiries revealed they had specific plans to target the 'chicken's neck corridor' in Siliguri which connects Northeast with the rest of the country, Sarkar had said.

Sarkar also pointed out that Murshidabad had become a transit route for members of banned Bangladeshi outfits like Ansar-al-Islam.