Four Bangladeshis, including ex-police constable, held in Meghalaya after ‘attempted robbery’
BSF and local police detained suspects eight kilometres inside India after alleged attack on villager
Four Bangladeshi nationals, including a former police constable, have been arrested in India's Meghalaya state on suspicion of attempted robbery and kidnapping.
They were detained during a joint operation by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and state police in Rangdangai village, South West Khasi Hills district, on Saturday (9 August), about eight kilometres from the Sunamganj border.
The arrestees are Jahangir Alam of Jamalpur; Marfur Rahman, a former police constable from the same district; Sayem Hossain of Narayanganj; and Mehfuz Rahman of Cumilla.
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Authorities recovered a Bangladeshi police identity card, handcuffs, a pistol holster, a magazine cover, a radio set, mobile phones, masks, an axe, wire-cutting tools, Bangladeshi currency, and other items from the scene. The identity card is claimed to belong to Marfur Rahman.
The four allegedly attempted to attack and kidnap a local resident, Balsang A Marak, who sustained serious injuries and is now being treated at Shillong Civil Hospital.
Video footage circulating on Facebook since last night (10 August) shows locals saying the men tried to commit the crime in the village before being beaten by residents.
The BSF and police are later seen escorting the suspects out of a hilly jungle with the help of locals.
Lieutenant Colonel AKM Zakaria Kabir, commander of the Sunamganj-28 Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Battalion, said, "They were arrested about eight kilometres inside India from the border."
He added that initial information suggested the group had infiltrated in a team of six to seven people with "malicious" intentions.
Indian police said that during preliminary questioning, one suspect claimed he had entered the area to hunt geckos, while the other three stated they had crossed into India seeking asylum due to political cases against them in Bangladesh. Authorities are verifying these statements.
Zakir Hossain, Additional Superintendent of Police (Media) of Sunamganj District Police, confirmed that Marfur Rahman once served as a police constable in Dhaka but was later discharged from service.
The BGB and BSF are continuing to coordinate on the matter.
