How illegal immigrants from Bangladesh entered India through West Bengal
A significant crackdown has been initiated on Bangladeshi infiltrators by the Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s government in West Bengal. As a result, hundreds of these people are currently swarming to the state’s transit hubs and border crossings due to fear of action against them after spending decades, and in some cases, their entire lives in India, reported India Today. They also detailed how bogus documents were obtained and they landed in the country illegally. Leaders of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC or TMC) also facilitated their entry.
While some talked of how dalals (middlemen) arranged crossings under the cover of darkness, others remembered crossing rivers to reach India. The middlemen located a “patrolling gap,” enballing the intruders to get inside the country in 10 minutes. Furthermore, identification documents were put together by members of a network, which included members of the TMC in West Bengal. The illegals were even able to vote in India and received financial rewards through various government programs.
According to a carpenter from Bangladesh’s Kushtia district, he paid a
middleman between Rs 7,000 and Rs 8,000 to monitor BSF personnel movements at night and send parties across each time there was a “gap” in the surveillance. An intruder in Bengaluru likewise revealed that he also bribed Rs 20,000 to an agent to cross the border despite “military at the border.”
A local YouTube platform, Haldia Live, was informed by an individual that he and his brothers used a middleman network to enter India from Kushtia. He mentioned, “They have teams of five to six people. At night, they check which areas have the BSF presence and which do not. The moment they find a gap, they send people across. That’s the system. Sometimes you have to wait the whole night for a chance to cross. Sometimes it happens within 10 minutes.”
The man disclosed that Rs 7,000 and Rs 8,000 were charged for each person. “I worked in Kerala. Now they are asking for a voter card and Aadhaar card to even give a room on rent, and I don’t have those (documents),” he added.
“By paying Rs 2,000 to the man who brought people across, he would take us from Bangladesh into India, even with the military at the border. An Aadhaar card was arranged for Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000. We later travelled to Bengaluru by train,” an infiltrator shared a similar story.
“I got my voter card and ration card made when Mamata’s party was in power. The party people helped me get the documents. I also received Lakshmir Bhandar benefits for two to three years,” unveiled another Bangladeshi to ABP News, highlighting the role of TMC workers in facilitating the unlawful activity.
Khulna native Taklima Khatun expressed that two years ago, she crossed the Ghojadanga border into India and was employed as a house help. “I don’t want to end up in a holding centre or be pushed back. So, I am willingly returning home,” she told The Times of India. Shahidul Gazi, a mason from Satkhir stated that he used a middleman to enter India three years ago across the Swarupnagar border. “I have no citizenship documents. Like hundreds of others, I am being forced to leave,” he added.
“No one said anything during the Trinamool Congress rule. Now the government has changed. Now people are after us. Our landlords were also afraid that if they kept Bangladeshi people, they would be fined Rs 2 lakhs and two years in jail,” another outlined the drastic changed observed after the BJP replaced the TMC government in the state.
There is pressure on property owners to refrain from harbouring undocumented immigrants. The individual acknowledged that he had voted and his wife had been granted money via the Lakshmir Bhandar program. According to Salam Dali from Khulna, he worked as a carpenter in India after he handed out Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 to a middleman to enter India approximately 5 years ago.
“My parents brought me to this country when I was young (10 years old). Father worked as a carpenter. No one said anything. We just ate, drank and worked,” another insisted in a conversation with ABP News.
Authorities are not completely unaware of these routes. The 4,096-kilometre border between Bangladesh and India is made up of agricultural terrain, heavily populated parts and riverine sections. These gaps are used by human traffickers to transport Bangladeshis into India. The part played by smuggling and trafficking rings that also aid prohibited crossings has been emphasised by security officials for years. In February 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairsreported that 3,232.218 kilometre of the India-Bangladesh border had already been sealed, accounting for about 79% of the total.
On the other hand, Adhikari has stated that these unauthorised Bangladeshis would be turned over to the BSF (Border Security Force) at the border rather than being accommodated or taken to the court. Additionally, welfare benefits are being uncovered and discontinued. In recent weeks, there has been heightened checking and monitoring in West Bengal’s border areas to prevent such invasion.
Courtsey:OPindia
Readers like you, make ESHADOOT work possible. We need your support to deliver quality and positive news about India and Indian diaspora - and to keep it open for everyone. Your support is essential to continue our efforts. Every contribution, however big or small, is so valuable for our future.
