Nun gang rape accused paid money to enter India

The seven accused had rented out a two-storey building on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh state highway and the accommodation was being used for transit purposes.

Chandigarh:  One of the seven people arrested in the gang rape of an elderly nun in West Bengal has told the police that he gained entry into India by paying 2,000 rupees to a personnel of Border Security Forces.

The interrogation of Mohammad Habibul, an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant, and others revealed that how security personnel meant to guard the borders were letting in criminals from the neighboring country for a petty amount.

"Nahi sahab humne aisa kuch nahi kiya, bas choti-moti chori ki hai (No sir, we did not do this (gang rape). We were just involved in petty thefts)," claimed Mohammad Habibul, while talking to the media on Friday.

The seven accused, in their 20s, had rented out a two-storey building on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh state highway and the accommodation was being used for transit purposes.

Ludhiana police who questioned them said while two of the arrested foreign nationals are involved in the gang rape, others are part of an international gang involved in cheating and robbing people besides other crimes in India.

Sources said illegal Bangladeshis find shelter in the slums of various cities including Kolkata, New Delhi, Kanpur, Mumbai and Ludhiana and also get employment in local factories.

They also form a big chunk of contract labor being supplied to industries in Ludhiana in Punjab and Baddi in Himachal Pradesh.

Salim Sheik, one of the prime accused in West Bengal nun gang rape case, was arrested from a Mumbai slum. Some of the seven illegal Bangladeshi immigrants allegedly involved in the case were also employed in local industrial units and had even managed to procure SIM cards for mobile phones and were in touch with other Bangladeshis in India and Bangladesh.

According to an estimate, there are over 10 million illegal Bangladeshi migrants in India.

Source: India Today