BSF thwarts infiltration bid, drives back 24 Bangladeshis, 2 Rohingyas

Kolkata, Jan 12: The BSF foiled infiltration bids at the border and drove back 24 Bangladeshis and two Rohingyas, an official said on Sunday.

The jawans of BSF South Bengal Frontier also thwarted attempts to smuggle out hemp, alcohol-containing cough syrup phensedyl and other drugs, apart from eight cattle, from India to Bangladesh, he said.

Twenty Bangladeshis and two Rohingyas were intercepted and driven back in the North 24 Parganas district, while four other Bangladeshis were pushed back in the Nadia district on Saturday, he said.

"During questioning, it was found that most of them were going to Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad for housekeeping and labour work," the BSF official said in a statement.

The Indian border guards also stopped attempts to smuggle out various goods to Bangladesh, seizing 565 bottles of phensedyl, 3 kg of ganja and 2,900 strips of quinine (quinine sulphate tablet), 700 injections of quinine dihydrochloride and 1,200 artemether injections, he said.

The phensedyl consignment meant for smuggling to Bangladesh was intercepted in the Malda district of West Bengal, the official said.

The jawans freed eight cattle from the clutches of smugglers, he added.

The seized goods were handed over to the department concerned for further legal action and the rescued cattle will be handed over to Dhyan Foundation after e-tagging, he said.