Indian police on Friday came upon a 200-metre-long tunnel on the Bangladesh-India border in Assam.
A man was recently abducted and while rescuing him the police found the tunnel that is supposedly used for infiltration and smuggling of cattle.
“We received an FIR regarding a person who was abducted to the other side of the border, following which we went to the area,” said Mayank Kumar, Karimganj superintendent of police (SP), reports News18 of India.
“We can only say anything about the secret tunnel only after proper investigation. There are some serious issues in some particular areas. We have taken up the matter with the BSF and intelligence agencies,” he added.
Dilwar Hossain, a resident of Shilua village under Nilambazar police station in Karimganj, was abducted on Sunday, according to a report in Anandabazar Patrika.
Later, the kidnappers contacted his family from a Bangladeshi number and demanded a ransom of Tk5 lakh. When Dilwar’s family agreed to pay, the kidnappers gave some instructions and asked Elimuddin of neighbouring Nayagram to bring the money. When the police arrested Elimuddin, they released Dilwar.
After Dilwar’s return, the police interrogated him and found out about the tunnel.
On Friday, a special team led by the Karimganj district superintendent of police conducted an operation in the Balia area. The police discovered a tunnel more than 200 metres long there.
Karimganj District Superintendent of Police Mayank Kumar Jhan said the location of the tunnel was covered in plants. There was a barbed wire fence above the tunnel.
It looked like a normal hole. According to Dilwar, it looks like a common hole at the end of Sylhet, Bangladesh. The miscreants regularly move on that road.
The BSF has been asked to close the Indian part of the tunnel immediately, the SP said. The BSF has already detained several people in connection with the incident and has been interrogating them, reports The Home News.
In June 2017, the BSF seized 249 cattle and contraband items worth Rs82 lakh from near the border in Meghalaya. A BSF spokesperson had at the time said: “It appears that transportation of cattle from the hinterland to the border areas was continuing without hindrance and smuggling was rampant.”
The spokesperson had also said the seized cattle were smaller in size and were smuggled through tunnels and once they reached Bangladesh, they were fed fattening drugs
In May 2018, the Karimganj police arrested two Bangladeshi smugglers at Kandi village near the border. According to the police, a group of seven smugglers had entered Indian territory through the barbed tunnel, reports News18 India.