Human Trafficking Racket Busted: West Bengal Trio Accused of Smuggling Bangladeshis to Mangaluru

Mangaluru City Police have registered a case against three alleged middlemen from West Bengal for allegedly operating a human trafficking network that facilitated the entry of illegal Bangladeshi migrants into the city's workforce, following the detention of 11 undocumented Bangladeshi nationals.

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, Moidin Islam and Dilwar Hussain have been arrested within Mangaluru city limits, while the third accused, Rasul Islam, was tracked and detained in Kolkata through coordinated efforts 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.

Glare on network

Police said preliminary investigations indicate that the accused allegedly ran a network supplying labourers from various northern states to meet the workforce demand at construction sites in Mangaluru.

According to investigators, the accused allegedly used the movement of interstate migrant workers 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 questioning the third accused could help investigators uncover the larger trafficking network and identify additional facilitators.

"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.

The case follows an operation on Monday in which Mangaluru City Police detained 11 Bangladeshi nationals working at two separate construction sites under the jurisdiction of the Urva Police Station.

Commissioner Reddy said the detainees included three people from one construction 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.

(With inputs from ANI)