New Delhi: Strengthening its case against human trafficking network, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday chargesheeted two men for illegally crossing into India 10 years ago and pushing Bangladesh nationals into forced labour.
The NIA has filed a supplementary chargesheet against Muhammed Sahajalal Haldar and Muhammed Idris alias Erdish Khan, who were arrested in February this year with the help of the Internal Security Division of Karnataka after being on the run for months.
The NIA had registered the case RC-01/2023/NIA/DLI on November 7, 2023, after receiving credible inputs about certain Karnataka-based entities working with facilitators and traffickers in Assam, Tripura and Bangladesh to establish a transnational human trafficking network.
Nationwide searches by NIA had led to the arrest of several accused in the case and the agency had earlier chargesheeted 12 Bangladeshi nationals under IPC, Foreigners Act and Passport (Entry into India) Act.
NIA investigations have revealed that Haldar and Idris, who had crossed into India through Benapole at the Indo-Bangladesh border, initially worked as waste segregators. They later rented land at Seegehalli and Margondanahalli respectively in Karnataka, and started their own waste segregation units by constructing godowns and temporary sheds. They used to employ trafficked Bangladesh nationals and force them into hard labour on meager wages under threat of arrest by the Indian police.
As part of the elaborate human trafficking network, Bangladeshi nationals were being smuggled into India through the Indo-Bangladesh border on the false promise of secure jobs with valid Indian identity documents, as per NIA investigations.
Further investigations are continuing to track other suspected traffickers, including dalals and touts, involved in the racket.
