NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two absconding Bangladeshi nationals in a human trafficking case, the agency said. The arrest of Mohammed Sajjid Haldar and Idris takes the total number of arrests to 14 in the case.
As per the NIA, the accused were arrested from Karnataka following a massive search operation conducted by its officials. “The duo had been on the run, and were tracked and nabbed on Thursday night with the assistance of the Internal Security Division of Karnataka”, the anti-terror agency said on Friday.
The NIA, which had busted the racket in November 2023 following nationwide raids, found during investigations that Haldar and Idris had illegally crossed into India via Benapole at the Indo-Bangladesh border. Haldar had set up a waste collection and segregation unit at K Channasandra in Ramamurthy Nagar in Bengaluru and had employed other Bangladeshi nationals in his operations.
“Investigations have further revealed that Idris had also set up a waste collection and segregation unit at Anadapura in Bengaluru, where he had leased out land and set up tents for more than 20 Bangladeshi families, who were suspected to have been trafficked by him. Investigations to corroborate these details are continuing”, said the NIA.
The NIA registered the case on November 7, 2023, after receiving credible inputs about certain Karnataka-based persons having linkages with facilitators and traffickers in Assam, Tripura and countries across the border. “The linkages had exposed a large network of traffickers engaged in smuggling individuals into India through the Indo-Bangladesh border. The accused were also found involved in fabricating and providing fake Aadhar cards to the victims,”
The NIA, which had earlier arrested and chargesheeted 12 Bangladeshi nationals under relevant sections of the IPC and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, is continuing to crack down on traffickers active along the Indo-Bangladesh border. (ANI)