The accused had entered India illegally, without valid travel documents, and had fraudulently obtained Indian identity documents, a spokesperson of the federal agency said.
According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), they were trafficked through the porous Indo-Bangla border points in West Bengal and Tripura, with the help of touts operating on both sides of the border.
Eight of them had subsequently been involved in trafficking of several other Bangladeshi nationals in a similar manner, the spokesperson said.
The official said a total of 22 such victims of the accused have been identified so far by the agency, which has further found that the victims were lured into India on false promises of jobs and better livelihood.
The victims had paid the touts along the border for crossing into India and were directed to reach Bengaluru. Once they landed in the trafficker’s waste segregation godowns in the southern city, they were subjected to forced labour for meagre wages and were confined in various sheds built specially for the purpose, the official said, adding those who protested were threatened by the traffickers that they would land up in prison on account of being illegal migrants. Earlier, NIA searches in the premises of the 12 charge-sheeted men, as well two absconding accused Mohammed Sahajlal Haldar and Idrish, had led to the seizure of 61 Aadhaar cards along with other Indian identity documents obtained fraudulently.
Investigations to uncover the modus operandi for procuring Indian identity documents are continuing. A hunt for the absconding accused is underway, the spokesperson said.
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