Bangladeshi national arrested while trying to enter Army base in Bengal's Bagdogra

Kolkata, Nov 6 (IANS) A Bangladeshi citizen was arrested on Thursday as he attempted to enter a Bengdubi Army Base at Bagdogra in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, posing as a local labourer.

The Bangladeshi individual was identified as Nanda Mondal. He was arrested by the Army jawans attached to the base after they found his movements quite suspicious. Later, he was handed over to the Bagdogra Police Station.

An insider from the district police said that because of some ongoing construction work at the base, some local labourers attached to a construction contractor arrived at the Army base. While they were entering the base, Mondal also tried to enter by posing as a labourer.

However, his movements made the Army personnel on duty quite suspicious. They apprehended him and started questioning him. Initially, Mondal tried to dodge them by claiming to be a worker attached to the construction contractor.

However, there were a lot of inconsistencies in his statements, which made the Army personnel even more suspicious. Finally, in the face of interrogation, he revealed his identity and also admitted to being a Bangladeshi citizen. Thereafter, he was handed over to the Bagdogra Police Station.

Sources said that the police are now interrogating him to know the real intention behind his attempt to enter the Army base posing as a local worker. Mondal could not furnish any legal document required to come to India, from which it is evident that he crossed the border illegally.

He might be presented at a district court on Friday, and the public prosecutor will seek his police custody.

To recall, in May this year, the jawans of the Border Security Force (BSF) arrested a suspected Bangladeshi spy, Ashraful Alam, near the Bagdogra Army Cantonment. He was allegedly collecting sensitive information about the area.

During interrogation, Alam claimed to be a former sleuth of the main intelligence agency of Bangladesh.

--IANS

src/dpb