3 West Bengal men booked for trafficking illegal Bangladeshi migrants to Mangaluru; one detained in Kolkata

MANGALURU: In a breakthrough following the detention of 11 illegal Bangladeshi nationals, the Mangaluru City Police have registered a case against three alleged middlemen from West Bengal for operating a human trafficking network that facilitated the entry of illegal Bangladeshi migrants into the city’s workforce. The accused have been identified as Moidin Islam, Rasul Islam and Dilwar Hussain, all residents of West Bengal.

According to Mangaluru City Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy, two of the accused, Islam and Hussain, have been arrested within Mangaluru city limits. The third accused, Rasul Islam, was tracked in Kolkata through coordination between the Mangaluru Police and the Kolkata Police.

“Our Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) successfully coordinated with the Kolkata Police, leading to the tracking and detention of the remaining accused in Kolkata. A special team from Mangaluru has already left for Kolkata to take custody of him,” Commissioner Reddy said.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused allegedly operated a network that supplied labourers from various northern states to meet the demand for workers at construction sites in Mangaluru.

Police stated that the accused allegedly used the movement of interstate migrant labourers as a cover to facilitate the illegal entry of Bangladeshi nationals into India through the Murshidabad border route before placing them in construction jobs in and around Mangaluru.

Commissioner Reddy said the interrogation of the third accused could help uncover the wider human trafficking network and identify other facilitators involved. “Once the third accused is brought to Mangaluru and interrogated, we expect to uncover the full extent of this network and determine if more middlemen or local handlers are involved in this racket,” the Police Commissioner added.

On Monday, Mangaluru City Police detained 11 Bangladeshi nationals who were found working at two separate construction sites under the jurisdiction of the Urva police station. Mangaluru City Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy confirmed the development, stating that the detained individuals include three people from one site and eight from another.

“Report will be sent to FRRO for orders to detain them and deport. Document collection is in process,” said the Police Commissioner. (ANI)