Guwahati, Oct 19: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) reportedly detained three Bangladesh nationals at Lumding Railway Junction in Assam after an operation aboard the Guwahati–Sairang Express, on Monday.
The three men, identified as Bilal Hussain, Amir Ali and Hassan Mia, are reportedly residents of Sunamganj district in Bangladesh.
They were detained from Train No. 15609, the Guwahati–Sairang Express, according to preliminary information.
Initial accounts suggest that the men entered India through the India–Bangladesh border in West Bengal’s Murshidabad region.
However, the timeline of their entry remains unclear, with differing accounts emerging from the men themselves.
Ali reportedly told authorities that he had paid a tout Rs 3,000–4,000 to facilitate his entry into India.
“I had been living in Kashmir for the past six months and had crossed the border through Murshidabad,” he told the press, after being held.
Mia, meanwhile, reportedly said he had been staying in India for around two months and was travelling to Badarpur.
“I had paid Rs 5,000 to a tout to cross into India through the Murshidabad border,” he said.
Other preliminary information suggests that the three men had travelled to Uttar Pradesh, where they allegedly worked as labourers.
Their movements and the circumstances of their entry into India remain subject to verification.
The alleged payments to intermediaries are also yet to be independently established. Investigators may seek to determine the identity of the suspected touts and whether others were involved in facilitating the men’s entry.
Further details, including the agency to which the men were handed over and the legal action initiated against them, were not immediately available.
An official statement from the RPF is awaited.