The National Investigation Agency (NIA) chargesheeted two men on 18th May 2024 for illegally crossing into India 10 years ago and pushing Bangladesh nationals into forced labour. The accused Muhammed Sahajalal Haldar and Muhammed Iris @Erdish Khan, were arrested in earlier in February with the help of the Internal Security Division of Karnataka after being on the run for months.

This chargesheet is part of an ongoing case that was registered on 7th November 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.

The Agency informed in a press release that following nationwide searches, it had arrested 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 Iris, 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, the Agency stated.