Lucknow: A special court in Lucknow on Monday convicted 15 members of an international human trafficking syndicate, including 13 Bangladeshi nationals and two Rohingyas, and sentenced each of them to five years’ rigorous imprisonment besides imposing a fine of Rs 10,000.The verdict was delivered by ATS/NIA Court Judge Umakant Jindal, nearly five years after the Uttar Pradesh ATS unearthed the cross-border trafficking network.According to ATS, the case dates back to Oct 26, 2021, when it arrested eight accused — Mithun Mandal, Pintu Das alias Shaon Ahmed, Rony Paul alias Mominur Islam, Bapi Roy alias Mehdi Hasan, Vikram Singh, Mahfuzur Rahman, Samir Mandal alias Tony and Mohammad Jamil alias Harish Ullah — for allegedly infiltrating India illegally, possessing forged Indian identity documents and engaging in human trafficking.Subsequent investigation led to the identification and arrest of other syndicate members, including Asidul Islam alias Vijay Das, Hussain Mohammad Fahad alias Manik Dutta, Al Amin Ahmed alias Rajesh Biswas, Jaibul Islam alias Govinda Das, Jameel Ahmed alias Palash Biswas Porag, Rajib Hussain alias Ajit Das, Shakhawat Khan alias Golak Mandal, Alauddin Tariq alias Rinku Biswas, Ajay Ghildiyal, Noor Amin, Khokhon Sardar alias Mohammad Qayyum Ansari and Ratan Mandal.ATS investigators said the syndicate facilitated the illegal entry of Bangladeshi nationals into India through the India-Bangladesh border and used forged documents to secure Indian passports for them. The passports were allegedly used to send trafficked individuals to foreign countries.Based on the evidence presented during trial, the court convicted 15 accused in the case.
