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NIA files charge sheet against three Myanmar nationals in trafficking case
The federal agency carried out raids in this case in November last year as part of uncovering and dismantling a major international human trafficking network
New Delhi:
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet against three Myanmarese nationals in a probe related to trafficking of Rohingya women from Bangladesh to Indian cities and selling them into forced marriages, the agency said on Sunday.
The accused persons named in the charge sheet filed on Saturday are Rabi Islam alias Rabiul Islam, Shafi Alam alias Sofi Alom and Mohammad Usman. All three are permanent residents of Myanmar’s Maungdaw district.
“As per our investigation, they entered India illegally, in collusion with traffickers and touts, without valid travel documents. They were also involved in facilitating the infiltration of numerous other foreign nationals through unauthorized and illegal border routes,” a NIA spokesperson said in a statement.
“Part of a well organized network of traffickers and touts involved in various illegal activities, they were also engaged in luring vulnerable Rohingya women, who had taken refuge in Bangladesh, into India on the false promises of marriage to Rohingya men. Such women were then sold for forced marriages across various Indian states, including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana and Haryana,” the spokesperson said.
An investigation has uncovered instances and evidence of forgery of documents and has established that Rabi Islam and Mohammad Usman had obtained Aadhaar unique identity cards fraudulently. “The duo had also used these cards to procure multiple SIM cards and open bank accounts, further concealing their true identities,” the spokesperson said.
The federal agency carried out raids in this case in November as part of uncovering and dismantling a major international human trafficking network. The raids were carried out at 55 locations, and 44 middlemen were arrested. The agency has registered four cases to probe a larger nexus involved in the illegal immigration and is likely to seek help from Bangladeshi authorities to identify middlemen and key players on the other side of border.
The Centre has maintained that illegal immigrants, including Rohingyas, pose a threat to national security and there are reports about some Rohingya migrants indulging in illegal activities.
In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court in September 2017, in response to a petition filed by two Rohingya immigrants seeking refugee status, the Union home ministry said, “Continuance of Rohingyas’ illegal immigration into India and their continued stay has serious national security ramifications and threats.”
The affidavit estimated there were then around 40,000 Rohingyas Muslims in the country. Intelligence inputs suggested that some Rohingyas had links with Pakistan-based terror organizations and that they were indulging in anti-national activities such as mobilization of funds through hawala channels, procuring fake identities and indulging in human trafficking, the affidavit had said.
India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention and rejects the UN position that deporting Rohingyas violates the principle of refoulement, or the forcible return of asylum seekers to a country where they are liable to face persecution.
