NIA arrests Assam man running Rohingya refugee trafficking network from Bengaluru
| Editorial Comment
It is very shocking that such activities have been going on unchecked for decades. This case highlights the fact that our security agencies have turned a blind eye to such networks. Would it be wrong to say that they were under instructions from politicians ? |
Bengaluru – The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has said that they arrested 6 persons, including one from Assam, who was operating a human trafficking racket from Bengaluru and was helping Rohingyas settle in India with forged documents.
The NIA said the ‘mastermind’ of the racket, Kumkum Ahmed Chaudhury alias Asiqul Ahmed, a resident of South Assam’s Cachar District was arrested from Bengaluru. The racket was active in areas in Assam, Meghalaya and Bengal sharing borders with Bangladesh. “Other active members of this racket are spread in various parts of the country”, the NIA said in a statement.
Police officials in Assam, who had arrested several Rohingya refugees in the past said that they illegally cross the India-Bangladesh borders in Tripura and then board trains from South Assam. “There is a racket who help such people not only to cross the border through the unfenced stretches but help them make forged documents like PAN cards, Aadhar cards and fake refugee certificates similar to the ones issued by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. They are taken out by trains to cities like Bengaluru and New Delhi and are engaged in various works”, said a Police officer in Assam. Many Rohingya women are also engaged in flesh trade, he said.
The case related to the illegal entry of Rohingyas was handed over to the NIA in December last year after several of them were arrested in Assam, Tripura and Bengal. Several Rohingyas were arrested by Railway Police in Assam and BSF in Tripura. Guwahati-based office of the NIA registered the case under Section 370 (trafficking) and 370 (A) (trafficking for sexual exploitation) of IPC.
Police stepped up vigil against Rohingyas after the Union Home Ministry told the Parliament that all foreigners staying in India without travel documents, including the Rohingyas, would be considered as a ‘threat to national security’.