NIA Targets Forgery, Trafficking Links in Tripura
- By Thetripurapost Desk, Kailasahar
- Nov 12, 2025
- 1489
In a coordinated intelligence-driven operation, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), assisted by the Tripura Police, conducted extensive raids across Unakoti district on Wednesday, targeting an alleged human trafficking and infiltration network operating along the porous Indo-Bangladesh border.
According to law enforcement sources, the searches focused on two individuals — Paritosh Shil (45), a resident of Bhagyapur in Kailashahar, and Ranu Pal (42), from the Nidebi area of Kumarghat — suspected of forging identity credentials for foreign nationals linked to cross-border human trafficking syndicates.
Although no arrests were made, investigative teams seized digital devices, bank records, and personal documents during the raids.
Shil, a local salon owner, said he was interrogated for over three hours. His mobile phone and banking documents were confiscated, and he was directed to appear before the NIA’s Ahmedabad office on November 20 for further questioning. He claimed investigators showed him a photograph of a person who had allegedly received 13 calls from his number — a connection he denied, suggesting possible unauthorized use of his mobile device.
The NIA contingent had arrived in Tripura from Guwahati, Assam, on Monday, indicating a premeditated expansion of the central agency’s counter-trafficking operations across the Northeast.
Between 2022 and November 2024, the NIA has arrested at least 25 individuals nationwide for their alleged roles in trafficking networks. In June 2024, the agency filed a chargesheet against eight Tripura residents accused of facilitating the smuggling of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingya refugees into Indian territory.
Tripura shares an 856-kilometre-long border with Bangladesh, much of which remains unfenced and vulnerable to illicit cross-border movement. Intelligence agencies have long flagged the region as a transit corridor for human trafficking, narcotics trade, arms smuggling, and cattle rackets — crimes that continue to undermine border security and internal stability.
The latest operation underscores the NIA’s resolve to dismantle organized trafficking networks exploiting the northeastern corridor for transnational criminal activity.