Bengal Police trying to trace direct links between fake passport and human trafficking rackets in state

Kolkata Dec 26 Officials of both the West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police, probing the fake passport rackets in the state, are trying to track the links of these rackets with those involved in cross-border human trafficking, sources said.

The hunch of the investigating official about the possible links between the fake passport and human trafficking rackets was prompted after examining the documents of the fake passports prepared by such rackets, where almost all the beneficiaries were illegal infiltrators.

Although the majority of such fake passports were for male illegal infiltrators from neighbouring Bangladesh, there were quite a number of women infiltrators for whom such fake passports were made.

Sources said that as most of the women infiltrators for whom such fake passports were made are within the age bracket of the early twenties and early thirties, suspicion about the involvement of human trafficking rackets became stronger.

The sources added that in the past few years, there had been stray instances where women were trafficked from neighbouring Bangladesh and this was done mainly for two purposes. On one hand, a small section of such trafficked women, after their fake Indian documents were arranged, were sent to different Indian states to work as domestic aides, against which their agents received commissions.

However, sources added, a major section of the trafficked women, mainly in the age brackets of early and mid-twenties, are sent to different red-light areas in the country to operate as sex workers.

In fact, sources said that the public prosecutor has also updated the court where those arrested in the fake passport case were presented, about the possibility of involvement of human trafficking angle in the menace.

So far six persons have been arrested in connection with the fake passport rackets since January 15.

The investigating officials have identified a pattern in the operations of such rackets engaged in arranging fake Indian passports for the illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators. Any infiltrator illegally crossing over to the Indian territory, contacting the local agents and showing willingness to pay out hefty amounts for getting fake Indian identity documents are first provided with safe shelters at the different villages adjacent to the borders with Bangladesh in the state, both land and coastal.

Thereafter, the agents arrange for fake ration cards for them which is the first step for making other identity documents. By virtue of the fake ration cards, other identification documents like EPIC, PAN, and Aadhaar cards are acquired. The last step is getting the fake passports on the basis of these other fake identity documents.