Concerns are mounting over repeated incidents of illegal cross-border movement through the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura’s Khowai district, with villagers demanding strict action against the trafficking and tout networks facilitating the crossings.
Villagers claim that several border areas in Khowai have become convenient transit routes for Bangladeshi nationals entering and exiting India illegally. While police have frequently detained Bangladeshi nationals from different parts of Khowai town, residents allege that the masterminds behind the organised human trafficking network continue to evade arrest.
According to local sources, a well-established network of touts and human traffickers has been operating along the border for years, assisting people in crossing between India and Bangladesh illegally. Although law enforcement agencies have managed to apprehend infiltrators, villagers say action against the alleged kingpins of these networks has remained limited.
On Saturday, police personnel from Khowai police station arrested two more Bangladeshi nationals, identified as Kabir Khan and Sheikh Shamim, from the area near the Radha Krishna Temple adjacent to Krishna Mandir in Khowai town.
Police sources said that the two Bangladeshi men were arrested by plainclothes officers at around 3:30 PM near Subhash Park on Saturday. During preliminary questioning, they reportedly told investigators that they were residents of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and had been living in Delhi for an extended period before travelling to Khowai with the intention of crossing into Bangladesh.
The latest incident has renewed demands for authorities to identify and dismantle the alleged trafficking syndicates operating along the border. Local people argue that merely arresting infiltrators will not provide a lasting solution unless stringent action is taken against the organized networks allegedly facilitating illegal cross-border movement.
Local sources further alleged that illegal crossings through the Khowai border have become increasingly frequent, with active touts reportedly operating in the border belt. Several sections of society have urged the police to identify and arrest those allegedly involved in the trafficking network to curb recurring incidents of illegal infiltration.
Police added said that investigation is underway to identify those who helped them enter India and added that police have registered a specific case under sections of the Passports Act, the Foreigners Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and all arrested foreigners were produced before a local court on Saturday with police remand appeals for further legal proceedings. Police also said that all those involved in these cases will be arrested and police will launch another operation to arrest human traffickers involved with infiltration of Bangladeshi into Tripura’s territory.
It may be recalled here that the bordering Tripura, which is a top hotspot travelling destination for human trafficking, specially for Rohingyas and Bangladesh nationals, who were illegally entered into Indian territory and moves towards other parts of the country through different means of surface communication with help of Indian and Bangladeshi touts and often involved with smuggling of Indian fake currencies, but many time, the alert security forces have also managed to detain them.