West Bengal: Two Rohingya men arrested from Nadia, remanded in judicial custody

The Rohingya men, who identified themselves as Muhammad Noor and Muhammad Javad, were produced before a Nadia court and remanded in judicial custody.

Two men from Myanmar’s Rohingya community were arrested from West Bengal’s Nadia district on Sunday night on charges of illegally entering India, the police said.

Representational image.

“The men, who appear to be in their late 20s or early 30s, were arrested from Krishnaganj area. They had no documents whatsoever. Both claimed to have sneaked into West Bengal through the Bangladesh border one year ago,” a police official said, requesting anonymity.

The Rohingya men, who identified themselves as Muhammad Noor and Muhammad Javad, were produced before a Nadia court on Monday and remanded in judicial custody.

The arrests were made within two kilometers of the spot in Krishnaganj where the Border Security Force (BSF) discovered four underground bunkers three days ago. Although cough syrup worth around ₹1.5 crore was seized from the bunkers, the authorities suspect that the underground chambers might have been used as human shelters. Indian smugglers regularly sell cough syrup to their counterparts in Bangladesh where the medicine is used as narcotic substance.

“We were working as wage labourers at construction sites in Hyderabad. I wanted to return to Bangladesh where my family lives in a camp for Rohingya refugees. My mother is unwell. I wanted to see her,” Javad told local media persons in Hindi while he was being taken to court on Monday afternoon.

Both men were carrying mobile phones when they were nabbed. “An agent gave us the sim cards after we entered India around a year ago,” Javad said.

Police said some villagers in Krishnaganj found the two men moving suspiciously and informed the local police station.

This is the second time in 10 days that Rohingyas have been nabbed in West Bengal during an ongoing drive against illegal infiltration from Bangladesh as the BSF set up barbed fences along unguarded portions of the international border.

Three Rohingyas, of whom two were minor girls, were arrested by government railway police (GRP) at Sealdah railway station in Kolkata on January 18. The man, who identified himself as Abdul Rehman, claimed that he was taking the girls to their relatives who live in Delhi.

The West Bengal police have intensified vigil in the districts along the Bangladesh border in view of the unrest in the neighbouring country since last year.

At least 35 Bangladesh citizens have been arrested in West Bengal since December 2024.