Kolkata,Jan 20:Three Rohingya Muslims, including two minor girls and a 31-year-old man, were arrested in Kolkata on Saturday morning for entering India illegally and attempting to travel to Kashmir.
The arrests have raised concerns over a possible human trafficking racket operating in the region.
The incident unfolded when a ticket examiner spotted the trio roaming suspiciously across multiple platforms at the Sealdah railway station on Friday night. Unable to produce valid tickets, they were handed over to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and later to the Government Railway Police (GRP) for further investigation.
During questioning, the 31-year-old identified himself as Abdul Rahman and admitted to entering India illegally from Bangladesh five to six years ago.
He has been residing in Kashmir, where he works as a labourer. The two minors, aged around 12, were reportedly being taken to Kashmir by Abdul under the pretext of work. All three are originally from Myanmar’s Rakhine State but had been living in a refugee camp in Bangladesh before crossing the India-Bangladesh border to enter India illegally.
The GRP suspects Abdul Rahman may be part of a larger human trafficking network, using Bengal as a transit corridor to traffic minors to Jammu and Kashmir. Investigators are probing whether he was acting as a middleman in a more extensive operation.
The two minor girls have been sent to a shelter home, while Abdul Rahman has been placed in police custody. The railway police are continuing their interrogation to uncover further details and identify any other individuals or groups involved in facilitating illegal crossings and trafficking.–(India Today)
