SSB arrest two Bangladeshi nationals near India-Nepal border in Bihar

Following their arrest, two passports, two visas, three cell phones, five SIM cards, a chequebook, two identity cards and foreign currencies, including pounds and Bangladeshi currencies, were recovered from them, said officials

The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel arrested two Bangladesh nationals late on Friday evening for illegally crossing the India-Nepal border in Bihar’s Madhubani district, officials said.

(Representative Photo)

SSB Commandant Govind Singh Bhandari said that the two Bangladeshi nationals, identified as Mohammad Tarikul Islam (32) and Mohammad Alamgir Hussain (31), were arrested while trying to cross into Nepal from India through the Mahinathpur border outpost falling under Basopatti police station of Madhubani district.

Both the arrested accused are said to be residents of Panchagarh, the northernmost district of Bangladesh, said Bhandari.

Following their arrest, two passports, two visas, three cell phones, five SIM cards, a chequebook, two identity cards and foreign currencies, including pounds and Bangladeshi currencies, were recovered from them, said officials.

The SSB Commandant said that both the arrested accused were handed over to the local police for further interrogation. The SSB intelligence is collecting further details about their movements and reasons to visit Nepal from Siliguri via Bihar, their mobile phones are also being scanned, he added.

A first information report (FIR) has been registered against the duo at the Basopatti police station based on the statement of the SSB Commandant.

The duo were arrested late Friday and were produced before a court on Saturday which granted judicial custody.

During a joint interrogation by the SSB, intelligence agencies and Madhubani police, it was found that they had entered India from Siliguri (West Bengal) on a tourist visa.

On August 17, the duo travelled to Madhubani in a bus and took an auto-rickshaw to cross the Indo-Nepal border, where SSB personnel intercepted them.

“Their passport validity (to India) ended on August 16 and both could not produce any valid documents for their entry to Nepal,” said an official familiar with the matter.