Kolkata, April 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) Before long, Kalimuddin Mollah could have been languishing behind the bars in an overcrowded Indian prison. Worse still, he could have been shot in a skirmish between smugglers and the Border Security Force (BSF) and lying dead close to the Indo-Bangladesh border.
On Sunday, realisation seems to have dawned on Mollah, a resident of Dharkanda village of Hakimpur, Swarupnagar in the North 24-Parganas of West Bengal. He walked up to Border Outpost Bhitari and surrendered before troops of the 112BN BSF, praying for pardon.
"Mollah was wanted in several cases of Phensedyl smuggling from India to Bangladesh. After the BSF tightened the screws, he realised that a life of crime would no longer pay along the International Boundary (IB) with Bangladesh. With no earnings, he decided to return to the mainstream and earn a living the honest way. This was a major success for the BSF that has been relentlessly working to curb smuggling along the IB in the North 24-Parganas district of West Bengal. This used to be a hotbed of smuggling of cattle, gold, silver, narcotics and Phensedyl.
"Nowadays, due to greater surveillance and adoption of modern border management techniques by the BSF, several routes have been plugged. Smuggling is no longer viable and people like Mollah are trying to get back to normal life," a senior BSF official of the South Bengal Frontier said.
During the surrender, Mollah signed a confessional statement in which he admitted that he had been involved in the smuggling of Phensedyl. He stated that he will no longer get involved in any crime and lead the life of an honest citizen of the country.
Copies of this statement have been submitted to the local police station and authorities of the Block. Arvind Meena, company commander, BOP Bhitari and Bajlu Rahman Dafadar, member, Hakimpur Gram Panchayat, were present during the surrender.
Narayan Chand, CO, 112Bn BSF, welcomed this move and urged other smugglers to give up their lives of crime and return to the mainstream.
"We shall do our best to help them. Smugglers should realise that the BSF has taken stringent measures to prevent all sorts of crime along the IB. We know that many smugglers are returning to the mainstream. This is encouraging," he said.
While all this was going on, a villager from the Nadia district of West Bengal was nabbed by the BSF while attempting to smuggle out 17 kinds of medicines and 550 grams of silver ornaments to Bangladesh.
Zakir Ali Mandal (42) of Matiyari village confessed that he was to receive a meagre Rs 200 for his services. He had allegedly been given the items by Saddam Mandal and Namaz Mandal of Matiyari to take to the gate of the border fence. He claimed before troops of the 54Bn BSF at Matiyari BOP that he is a farmer but got attracted due to easy money.
"This attraction for easy money gets people into a lot of trouble. The BSF has clamped down on all activities of smuggling along the IB. We know that people involved in smuggling are facing a lot of trouble now due to the strict measures adopted by the BSF. Let them return to the mainstream and start making an honest living. We shall help them in any way we can," said Deshraj Singh, CO, 54Bn BSF.
Source: IANS
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