Six individuals, including an Indian national, were apprehended for trafficking at the Phulbari border

The Phulbari 29 Border Guard Battalion has apprehended six individuals associated with a human trafficking ring, which includes an Indian citizen, while they were attempting to traffic women and children at the Phulbari border in Dinajpur.

In this case, on the morning of Friday, November 7, the BGB lodged a complaint under the Human Trafficking Act at the Phulbari Police Station and transferred the detainees. The police have subsequently remanded the detainees to jail.

On Thursday, November 6, at 10:30 am, a patrol unit from the Rasulpur BOP camp, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Phulbari 29 Battalion in the Kazihal Union bordering the upazila, executed a raid at the residence of Ofit Chowdhury, the son of the late Jahirul Chowdhury, located in Rasulpur (Polipara) village, resulting in their arrest.

After a day-long operation, the commander of the 29th Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel A. M. Jaber Bin Jabbar, confirmed the details during a press briefing at the Rasulpur BOP border post around 1 am last night.

The detainees were subsequently handed over to the Phulbari Police Station. The individuals detained include Nepal Barman (29) from Margram village in Dakshin Dinajpur district, Indian national Jolly Rani (30) from Shalbari village in Mahadevpur upazila of Naogaon district along with her two daughters, Tanushree Rani (10) and Rajshree Rani (3), Bijon Kumar Das (55) from Barachandpur village in Patnitala upazila, and his wife Lipi Rani Das (47).

In a press release, Lieutenant Colonel A. M. Jaber bin Jabbar, the commander of the 29th Battalion of Phulbari, reported that since 2022, Nepal Barman, an Indian citizen, has been involved in the smuggling of women and children from Bangladesh using an Indian passport. Continuing this activity, on October 22 of this year, he legally entered Bangladesh via the Hili checkport, where he began a romantic relationship with Jolly Rani, the widow of the late Mithu Chandra, a Bangladeshi citizen and mother of two. They were married through the court on October 26. Subsequently, with the intent to smuggle, he brought his wife Jolly Rani, along with her two children and Bijan Kumar Das and his wife Smt. Lipi Rani, to the residence of Offit Chowdhury, son of the late Jahirul Chowdhury, in Rasulpur village of Phulbari upazila on November 4. On the same day, Nepal Barman legally re-entered India, and the following day, November 5, he returned to Bangladesh through the Hili checkport, heading to the home of Afit Chaudhry, son of the deceased Jahirul Chowdhury in Rasulpur village, where he planned to facilitate the smuggling of women and children to India. At that moment, a patrol team from the Rasulpur BOP under the 29th Battalion of Phulbari, acting on a tip-off from a confidential source, conducted a raid on Afit's residence, located about 140 yards inside Bangladesh from the International Zero Line, and apprehended them.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Phulbari Police Station, AKM Khandaker Muhibbul, confirmed the details and stated that BGB members have arrested six individuals from an organized women and child trafficking ring, including Indian nationals, and have transferred them to the police station. The BGB has initiated legal proceedings against them as the complainant. The Commander of Phulbari 29 Battalion, Lt. Colonel AM Jaber Bin Jabbar, confirmed the occurrence and stated that in addition to safeguarding the border, BGB personnel are executing their responsibilities with a watchful and stringent approach to thwart drug and human trafficking. In this regard, six individuals, including one Indian national, were apprehended from the human trafficking network.

The arrested individuals have been transferred to Phulbari Police Station, and a case has been initiated. Concurrently, he mentioned that a robust protest has been filed with the Indian BSF battalion.