Kolkata, June 3 (IANS) A Bangladeshi national was apprehended by troops of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) on Wednesday (June 3, 2026) while attempting to cross over into India from Nepal with an expired visa.

Mohammed Mukter Hossain (36) was nabbed by troops of the 41 Bn SSB at the BIT check post in Ranidanga, north Bengal, when he was crossing the Old Bridge.

Hossain is a resident of Madanmohanpur, Nawabganj, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

“The troops at the check post asked him to produce some identity document and he brought out a Bangladeshi passport with an expired Indian visa. it seems that he entered India through ICPS Haridaspur on 30.08.2023. His visa expired on 23.09.2023, but Hossain continued to stay in India in the New Market area of Kolkata,” an SSB official said.

There are areas close to New Market in Kolkata that Bangladeshi nationals favour during their legal visits to India. Some illegal immigrants also stay there.

After staying in Kolkata for nearly a year, Hossain got in touch with an agent (tout) who promised to arrange for his travel to Europe through Nepal.

He also promised him employment in Europe.

​”The tout then facilitated his travel from India to Nepal. They allegedly crossed the Indo-Nepal border from an unknown place. Hossain claims that he does not know the exact location where they crossed over into Nepal as he is not from India. Once in Nepal, he stayed on for one-and-a-half years, working as a welder. The agent, who had collected money from him, cut off all contact,” the official said.

Hossain told interrogators that he had intentionally crossed over into India and given himself up to the authorities to facilitate his legal return to Bangladesh.

“While in Nepal, his mother apparently told him of the deportation of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from India and advised him to surrender to the authorities to avoid persecution. On Tuesday, he boarded a bus from Kathmandu to Kakarbhitta. On Wednesday, he attempted to cross the Old Bridge at Panitanki on foot, when he was apprehended,” the official added.

​Hossain underwent joint interrogation by security agencies and was then handed over to the Kharibari police station, where an FIR has been registered against him under relevant sections of the Foreigners Act and Passport Act.

–IANS

jayanta/pgh