Six B'deshi infiltrators arrested while trying to escape through Indo-Bangla border

Kolkata, May 10 (IANS) Six Bangladeshi nationals were arrested near the international border in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on Saturday while they were trying to escape through the porous bordering areas back to their native country, an official said.

Among the six Bangladeshi infiltrators who have been arrested, five are women and one a minor. Three local agents who first assisted them to enter India illegally earlier and then were again assisting them now to escape back to Bangladesh have also been arrested by the West Bengal Police.

They were arrested in Bagda in North 24 Parganas, which is extremely close to the international border with Bangladesh. The police personnel on patrolling duty there became suspicious of their movements and, apprehending that they were trying to go to the other side of the border, questioned them.

In the face of questioning, they admitted that they entered India illegally through the same international border, then got shifted to Gujarat and started earning through odd jobs.

However, because of the recent drive in Gujarat by the state administration there to identify illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators settled there, they decided to go back to their native country.

Henceforth, they contacted the same local agents who helped them to enter India illegally a year back, and this time to help them in going back to Bangladesh.

Accordingly, they reached Bagda from Gujarat, and finally they were arrested on Saturday while trying to escape.

At the same time, on Saturday, the cops of Nadia District Police have arrested seven other illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators from Duttapulia village panchayat under Dhantala police station in the district, which is again close to the international borders.

Of the seven arrested, four were men and the other three were women. They had crossed the borders illegally and were looking for a safe house for shelter during the initial period.

Nadia had been frequently in the news for almost the last one year over the arrests of illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators from there, considering that the international borders with Bangladesh in that district are extremely porous at certain points.

Nadia had also been in the news recently over busting rackets engaged in arranging fake Indian identity documents, including Indian passports for illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators.

--IANS

src/pgh