By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The BSF has again exposed the large scale presence of Bangladeshi nationals in the coal belt areas of Jaintia Hills with the detention of 32 persons on a single day, but the State Government is yet to take any effective step to curb the inflow of illegal migrants.
The BSF troops posted at border outposts of Kuliang and Umkiang in East Jaintia Hills apprehended as many as 32 Bangladeshi illegal immigrants and one Bangladeshi tout on Friday, while they were trying to cross over to Bangladesh from Meghalaya.
The Bangladeshi tout identified as Zainal (28), hailing from Sylhet, facilitated the cross border movement of Bangladeshis in lieu of money.
During search, the BSF personnel seized Indian currency worth Rs. 3,32,200 from the illegal immigrants and Rs. 36,000 from the tout.
16 cell phones worth Rs.32,000 with 13 Indian and 6 Bangladeshi SIM cards, garments and miscellaneous items worth Rs 13,700 were also recovered from their possession.
During preliminary questioning, the apprehended illegal immigrants revealed that they had been working in the coal mines near Khlierihat for a long time.
The coal barons employ the labourers from Bangladesh considering the easy availability of labour. There are many agents who bring in the workers from Bangladesh. Nepali labourers are also working in some coal mines.
According to BSF, the troops have launched intensive drive against the illegal immigrants. In October alone, 48 illegal migrants were apprehended.
A BSF official rued that while there is a lot of talks about addressing the issue of influx, the issue of presence of migrants in coal mines is yet to be addressed by the NGOs and the Government.