Police have arrested nearly 250 Bangladeshi migrants in the past three days for illegally crossing the border into West Bengal. "Police are looking for the Bangladeshi infiltrators, who have reportedly taken refuge at different houses in villages of West Bengal bordering Bangladesh," West Bengal police superintendent Harisen Verma said. "So far, we have arrested nearly 250 Bangladeshis from different areas in Bongaon sub-division over the past three days."

The arrested people have been sent to a jail in Bongaon about 70 km from Kolkata. "All of them would be sent back to their country after discussing the matter with the Bangladesh government," he said. Verma said police have stepped up their vigil in all border villages in West Bengal.
Officials say Bangladeshis have been pouring into India to escape attacks on the country's minority community after the Islamist-allied Bangladesh Nationalist Party government came to power in last month's general election. Bangladeshi officials earlier downplayed Indian media accounts of the attacks and dismissed reports of exodus as propaganda.
On November 9, however, the Bangladeshi government pledged to investigate the reported migration. A committee headed by the principal secretary to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has been asked to submit a report on the situation.
Bureau Report