india

Updated: Oct 16, 2014 00:48 IST

BSF personnel were in for a shock when in just five days they nabbed 60 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants with documents proving their Indian citizenship even before crossing over.

The documents include ration cards, voter identity cards, PAN cards, driving licenses, savings accounts details, and even affidavit papers signed by executive magistrates swearing Indian citizenship. The BSF has increased its vigil in the bordering districts of West Bengal after the Burdwan blast.

A team of BSF’s intelligence wing approached state officials to inquire as to how the immigrants managed to get the identification documents even before coming to India.

The Bangladeshis were nabbed from different points in North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Nadia and South Dinajpur, with the majority being from the Hili border in South Dinajpur district.

State home department sources told HT that the government has procured the details from BSF and has instructed the intelligence arm of the state police to trace their local links in Bengal.

“The fact that they were in possession of such important documents even before crossing over to India, proves they were backed by an organised racket that prepares such documents. It is important to find out who ferried such documents to Bangladesh and passed them to the infiltrators,” a government official said.

“Once the infiltrators get such documents, they can apply for an Indian passport too. This is a dangerous trend,” an officer of the state home (police) department said.