Pramesh S Jain
The detention of Bangladeshi nationals living illegally in the city during a special police drive has exposed a suspected human trafficking and forced labour network involving middlemen known as“thekedaars”.
Police said 16 Bangladeshi nationals,including men, women and children,who were detained by Varthur police,are currently being housed in a function hall while authorities complete formalities for deportation.
Interestingly,several of the detained migrants expressed relief at being caught.“We are happy that we were tracked down.Now we can finally go back to our country and meet our families,”one of the women told reporters.
According to her,she and several others were brought to Bengaluru illegally about four years ago after being promised decent jobs and good salaries.
“They showed us videos of high-rise buildings,good roads,metro trains and malls to convince us that we would get good jobs here,”she said.
However,the reality was starkly different after they arrived in the city.The woman alleged that they were confined in a godown and forced to work at waste segregation units from morning till evening,receiving only Rs.5,000 per month.
“The thekedaars threatened us with dire consequences and warned that they would get us arrested if we protested.
We were not allowed to move freely and had to live and work inside the compound amid heaps of garbage,”she said.
Another migrant said the labourers were deployed in waste segregation units run under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) system,where contractors reportedly receive about Rs.24,000 per worker,while migrants were paid only a fraction of that amount.
“We were told we would get only Rs.5,000.Any protest would be dealt with severely,”he recalled.
Despite the hardship,the migrants said they are now relieved as they hope to return home soon and reunite with their families.
Many of them expressed hope that they would be able to celebrate Eid with their families back in Bangladesh. Police said officers from Varthur police station,along with volunteers from the Vimochana women’s helpline, are currently taking care of the migrants’ food and basic needs, including milk, medicines and diapers for children.
The operation is part of an ongoing citywide drive to identify and detain illegal Bangladeshi immigrants living in and around Bengaluru.
Investigations have also led to the detention of several thekedaars,suspected to be part of a larger network that brings Bangladeshi nationals into India through porous borders and then exploits them as cheap labour.
Police said some of these middlemen deliberately involve themselves in criminal cases so they can remain in India under the pretext of attending court hearings, thereby prolonging their stay.
“This allows them to misuse the system and continue operating,”a senior officer said.
Investigators are now trying to track down more agents based on information provided by the detained migrants and by analysing mobile phone records.
The detained Bangladeshi nationals will soon be handed over to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to initiate the deportation process.
So far,over 215 Bangladeshi nationals have been identified and detained across the city during the ongoing operation.
Police said many more are still on the run,and efforts are underway to trace them.
