Malda: 5 B’deshi nationals arrested

Malda: Malda district police continued their crackdown on illegal activities with the arrest of five Bangladeshi nationals in Habibpur and the recovery of a large cache of illegal firearms in separate operations across the district.

In the first incident, Habibpur police arrested five Bangladeshi nationals and produced them before the Malda District Court on Tuesday. According to sources, in the early hours of Tuesday, residents noticed several suspicious individuals roaming around the Dalla Madhyapara area under the Baidyapur region. “After receiving information from locals, police rushed to the spot and detained four persons,” a police officer said. In another case, the Border Security Force (BSF) of the 88 Battalion detained one Bangladeshi national in the Agra–Harishchandrapur area on Monday and later handed him over to the police.

The arrested persons were identified as Bhim Roy, Ratan Roy, Shipon Roy and Durjoy Mondal, residents of Godabari Police Station area in Rajshahi district of Bangladesh, and Mohammad Azhar Ali, also from Bangladesh. An investigation is underway to ascertain how they entered Indian territory, according to police.

In a separate development, Malda police recovered 15 illegal firearms and ammunition in two raids, arresting two alleged arms traffickers. English Bazar police arrested Mainul Hasan (20) from the Milki area and seized 10 pipe guns, one 7 mm pistol and five live cartridges. In another raid, Kaliachak police arrested Anarul Haque (45) from Sujapur and recovered four 7 mm pistols.

Confirming the seizures, Superintendent of Police Avijit Banerjee said: “We conducted raids at two different locations following precise intelligence inputs. A total of 15 illegal firearms were seized.” He added that preliminary investigation suggests links with Bihar-based arms suppliers. Both accused will be produced in court and police custody will be sought for further interrogation.