West Bengal: Two Bangladeshi brothers arrested in Siliguri

Two Bangladeshi nationals have been arrested from West Bengal's Siliguri. The duo had been hiding for six months in the city.

Siliguri: Two Bangladeshi nationals have been arrested for entering India illegally across the border from Bangladesh. The duo who are brothers have spent years traveling from state to state in India, and have been hiding in West Bengal. They had been hiding for six months in Siliguri and were arrested by the police of Siliguri Police Commissionerate's Bhaktinagar police station on Friday.

The judge turned down their bail plea and remanded them to 14-day jail custody after the accused were brought to the Jalpaiguri court on Saturday. However, the whole incident has raised serious questions about international border security. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Siliguri Police Commissionerate Suvendra Kumar said, "The two were hiding in the city for several months. How they came to the city and what was their plan is being investigated."

According to police sources, the two arrested brothers have been identified as Ratan Mondal and Manik Mondal, residents of Bangladesh's Dhaka. The police interrogated the arrested and found out that Manik Mondal entered India in 2007 while Ratan Mondal entered India in 2011. The two brothers entered India illegally through the Indo-Assam border in India.

For the past six months, the two brothers were hiding in Siliguri. They tried to make Indian identity cards for themselves, but so far they have not been able to produce any of those documents. One of them lived in a rented house in Hyderpara, Siliguri, and worked in a glass shop in Bidhan Market. But in need of money, they also used to work as daily laborers.

The duo had recently left work. On Friday night they went out in search of work and were seen wandering on Sevoke Road. The police on patrol got suspicious after observing their behavior and detained the two young men and interrogated them. After finding inconsistency in their answers, they were asked to show their identity cards, which they couldn't produce. They also informed the police that their parents are in Maharashtra's Kalyan. They were then arrested.