BSF foils attempt to smuggle passports to Bangladesh, two held in Bengal

Kolkata: The BSF on Tuesday said it has foiled an attempt of smuggling of Bangladeshi passports when a vehicle was trying to cross the international border along West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district and held two persons in this connection.

A team of Border Security Force personnel at Integrated Cheek Post in Petrapole searched the vehicle on Monday and recovered nine passports of the neighbouring country from it.

The driver of the mini-truck and his assistant were caught and handed over to the police, the BSF said in a statement.

During preliminary interrogation, the driver revealed that one person had given the passports and asked him to deliver them to someone at the Benapole, located on the other side of the border, it said

According to the statement, the helper claimed that he was not aware of it.

The BSF also rescued three cattle and held an Indian smuggler in the district on Monday, the statement said.

The smuggler was caught when he was trying to go to Bangladesh by crossing the Ganga river. He was also handed over to the police.

Boat patrolling is challenging during the monsoon season and the smugglers try to take advantage of the situation, a BSF official said.