28 Bangladeshis arrested from Dinhata station while trying to return home
A preliminary probe revealed that the group was fleeing Haryana, where a recent drive to round up illegal Bangladeshi citizens had spooked them.
Police said several of the arrested Bangladeshis had crossed into India 22 years ago. All of them had settled in Haryana, where they worked as daily labourers in brick kilns. They got married there and had eight children.
A sudden drive by Haryana Police last year to identify and arrest illegal Bangladeshi nationals, which led to the arrest of over 100 Bangladeshis, rattled them so much that they tried to flee.
The group left Haryana and took refuge in Bihar, where they lived for the past 10 months.
As the drive against Bangladeshi intruders intensified in other parts of the country, they planned to return to Kurigram in Bangladesh. Accordingly, they took a train to Siliguri, and then another train to reach Cooch Behar's Dinhata. Their plan was to cross over to Bangladesh with the help of agents.
However, their presence outside the station at that odd hour drew the attention of locals, who informed police.
An interrogation exposed their identity.
"Prima facie, it seems they were trying to return to Bangladesh and came to Dinhata with that intention. Further interrogation will reveal how they were planning a return and who else is involved," said Cooch Behar ASP Krishna Gopal Meena.
In Feb, Union home minister Amit Shah had directed authorities to speed up operations against the entire network assisting illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya immigrants in entering and staying in the country through forged documents.
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