One more wanted human trafficker and a key conspirator held by NIA in Tripura

One more wanted human trafficker and a key conspirator in a case relating to trafficking of Bangladesh nationals and Rohingyas through the Northeastern borders, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Tripura on Wednesday.

Official sources said that Jalil Miah, a resident of Tripura, has been arrested by NIA team on Tuesday after the probe agency had in February declared a cash reward of Rs one lakh for information leading to the arrest of the accused, who had been absconding in the case, in addition to nine others.

NIA sources said 33 persons were arrested earlier in the case, which the probe agency had taken over from Assam Special Task Force (STF), which had originally registered an FIR on March 22 last year under various sections of IPC and Passport Act 1967.

NIA has so far charge sheeted against 24 accused. Investigations have revealed that Jalil was one of the main conspirators in the human trafficking racket and a close associate of charge sheeted accused Jiban Rudra Pal alias Jibon alias Suman.

He was also closely associated with two other absconders, Juj Miah and Shanto, all hailing from Tripura, which shares 856 km of borders with Bangladesh.

Though Jalil had managed to escape during the initial operation on November 8 last year, in which 29 accused were arrested. Electronic devices and other incriminating documents seized from his residence had pointed to his complicity.

Pan India searches conducted by NIA in November last year had led to the seizure of a whole lot of incriminating data, including digital devices, along with foreign currency (Bangladeshi Taka and US Dollar), Aadhar Cards, PAN Cards etc.

A subsequent crackdown on December 29 last year had led to the arrest of another four accused in the case, exposing a massive network of human traffickers.

As per NIA investigations, a large number of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas are being trafficked to India every month through the porous stretches of the Indo-Bangladesh border. They are further transported to different parts of the country, and provided fake documents and forced into labour.

The manhunt for tracking the other absconders is continuing and investigations are in progress to connect the missing links in the elaborate racket.

Four states of Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Mizoram (318 km) and Assam (263 km) share an 1,880-km border with Bangladesh.