(District Nadia)
On September 20, 2023, BSF troops of ICP Gede, 32 Battalion under South Bengal Frontier and RPF jawans, during a joint search operation seized cosmetics, clothes, sarees, expensive mobiles and various other items worth Rs. 1,51,84,964/- from International Maitri Express train running between Kolkata and Dhaka at Gede Railway Station. Two Indian passengers were also caught along with valuable mobile phones and other items.
It is noteworthy that on the morning of 20th September, when the Maitri Express train going from India to Bangladesh reached Gede railway station, on the basis of concrete information, BSF jawans along with RPF jawans started searching the train. BSF’s dog handler team also reached the spot. During the search, BSF dog squad pointed out some suspicious items in the train. Subsequently, during the search, the troops found a large number of expensive smart phones and sarees in the possession of two Indian passengers and interrogated both the passengers in this regard. During interrogation, the passengers could not show any valid documents of the luggage they had brought with them. The troops immediately caught both the passengers on the spot who were trying to smuggle the said goods from India to Bangladesh through train.
The arrested passengers were identified as Akhtar Khan, S/o late Akhbar Khan and Abdul Haleem, S/o late Abdul Sattar, Kolkata. The troops seized 83 smart phones, 26 mobile adapters, 48 data cables, 64 sarees and 10 kg rice from the possession of both the passengers whose estimated price is Rs 17,52,640/-.
Along with this, the dog search team of BSF also detected huge quantity of cosmetics and household items from the train which had no owner. Therefore, the troops confiscated that too. The goods seized in the train included 31 smart phones, 30 keypad mobiles, huge quantity of sarees, suits, women’s and men’s clothes, cosmetic items, artificial jewelery, 312 trimmers of different companies, 101 expensive bottles of English liquor, expensive mobile chargers, huge quantity of electronics and medicines. The estimated value of this item is Rs 1,34,32,324/-.
The apprehended passengers admitted that they had bought all these items from New Market in Kolkata and were taking it to Bangladesh on Maitri Express to earn easy money. They further revealed that after reaching Bangladesh, they were going to hand over the said goods to Mohammad Ratul, a resident of Dhaka, Bangladesh. For this work they were to get three thousand rupees each. But the alert BSF troops foiled their intentions.
The apprehended passengers and seized luggage were handed over to the Customs Department, Banpur for further legal action.
A K Arya, DIG, Public Relations Officer, BSF, South Bengal Frontier, stated that international travelers often try to bring and carry house hold goods with them to earn easy money. But due to the vigilance of BSF troops, their plans do not succeed.