Bangladeshi youth arrested for attempting to trade Indian girls

EOI, MALDA, 10 Dec 2016: A youth from Bangladesh was arrested for allegedly attempting to traffic two minor girls from Murshidabad district late last night. The two girls rescued by police from Rathbari area under English Bazaar police station were sent to a government home with help of child welfare committee (CWC). Police produced the Bangladeshi youth identified as Saqib Sheikh in court today and appealed to take him in remand for 10 days.

It has been learnt from police sources that Sheikh, an inhabitant of Najirpur village under Rajshahi district in Bangladesh trespassed on Indian border and took refuge with one of his relatives at Asthia village in Murshidabad district about three months ago. There he entrapped two girls, students of class VIII and IX of a local school with the offer of friendship.

“Later, Sheikh lured them with the offer of travelling to his relative’s house. Accordingly, those two girls followed him to Malda yesterday. After reaching Malda by road he asked the girls to wait at Rathbari and went to hire a car. It was then our patrolling team spotted those girls. On asking them we primarily felt that they were being trafficked. As the youth came to pick them up with a car, we detained him and after he started talking incongruously to our queries, we brought him to book,” said Anup Singh, a member of the police patrolling team.

According to police sources, primary interrogation revealed the Bangladeshi youth had a plan to take those girls to south Dinajpur wherefrom they would have been trafficked to Bangladesh.

Purnendu Kundu, the inspector-in-charge of English Bazaar police station said, “The youth is being grilled to gather more information. Police have been looking into the matter.”