Well-oiled labour supply chain facilitating illegal infiltration of Bangladeshis
Investigations by state police forces have uncovered organised networks of agents facilitating the unauthorised entry of Bangladeshi nationals into India, reportedly charging around ₹10,000 per crossing along porous stretches of the India–Bangladesh border.
These networks embed undocumented migrants within genuine inter-state labour supply chains — particularly construction, infrastructure, and allied sectors — transporting them alongside legitimate workers from northern and eastern states, which complicates identification by employers and law enforcement.
Forged identity documents, including Aadhaar cards obtained by purchasing genuine ones and substituting photographs, are reportedly used to help migrants access employment, banking services, and government welfare schemes.
Enforcement agencies in some states have flagged large numbers of undocumented foreign nationals concentrated in urban centres, prompting calls for stricter document verification obligations on employers and labour contractors.
The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 — India's consolidated framework
The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 came into effect from 1 September 2025, repealing and replacing four earlier laws — the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920; the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939; the Foreigners Act, 1946; and the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act, 2000 — into a single consolidated statute governing the entry, stay, and exit of foreign nationals.
Key Details
- The Act prescribes enhanced penalties for the use or supply of forged travel or identity documents, ranging from two to seven years' imprisonment along with fines of ₹1–10 lakh.
- It casts reporting obligations on institutions such as hotels, universities, hospitals, and nursing homes to furnish information about foreign nationals staying with or visiting them.
- It empowers designated authorities, including the Border Security Force, to act against unauthorised entrants in border areas without the earlier procedural requirement of registering a First Information Report before action, and provides a framework for their removal.
The labour-supply-chain infiltration described relies on evading exactly the identity-verification and reporting obligations this Act tightens — which is why enforcement responses have focused on employer- and contractor-level document checks as the practical chokepoint.
Human trafficking law — Section 143, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
Where migration is facilitated through coercion, deception, or exploitative labour arrangements rather than voluntary unauthorised crossing alone, it falls within the ambit of trafficking law. Section 143 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, in force from 1 July 2024, replaced Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code as the primary trafficking-of-persons offence.
Key Details
- Section 143 BNS criminalises recruitment, transport, harbouring, transfer, or receipt of persons for exploitation, by means of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, or abuse of power/vulnerability.
- Punishment for the basic offence is rigorous imprisonment of seven to ten years with fine; trafficking of more than one person or of a minor attracts significantly enhanced punishment, up to imprisonment for life.
- The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 remains the specific statute addressing trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation, operating alongside the BNS's general trafficking provision.
Agent networks that charge migrants a fee, arrange forged documents, and channel them into specific employers create the kind of intermediary, exploitation-linked recruitment chain that trafficking law is designed to reach, distinct from simple unauthorised border crossing under immigration law alone.
Aadhaar identity fraud provisions
The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 contains specific offences addressing the kind of document manipulation reported in these networks — obtaining a genuine Aadhaar card and altering its associated biometric or demographic details to misrepresent identity.
Key Details
- Section 34 penalises impersonation by providing false demographic or biometric information at the time of Aadhaar enrolment — imprisonment up to three years and/or a fine up to ₹10,000.
- Section 35 penalises appropriating another person's identity by changing or attempting to change the demographic or biometric information linked to an existing Aadhaar number — the same penalty range.
- Aadhaar itself is proof of identity, not proof of citizenship — a distinction UPSC frequently tests, since possession of an Aadhaar card does not establish Indian nationality.
The reported practice of buying a genuine Aadhaar card and substituting the photograph while retaining other details is precisely the offence Sections 34–35 target, and explains why such documents can still pass basic verification unless biometric re-checks are done.
Border management along the India–Bangladesh border
The India–Bangladesh border, spanning roughly 4,096 km across five Indian states (West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, and Meghalaya), is the longest land border India shares with any neighbour and includes extensive riverine and low-lying terrain that is difficult to fence or patrol continuously.
Key Details
- The Border Security Force (BSF) is the lead central armed police force responsible for guarding this border under the "one border, one force" principle.
- Border fencing, floodlighting, and smart-fencing pilots (using sensors and surveillance technology) have been deployed to address gaps in riverine and difficult terrain, though full fencing remains incomplete in several stretches.
- Illegal immigration from Bangladesh has historically been addressed through instruments such as the Foreigners Act framework (now subsumed into the 2025 Act) and periodic identification/deportation drives.
The described crossing points in border districts reflect these long-standing terrain and fencing gaps, which agent networks exploit to charge a fee for guided unauthorised entry.
- Reported cost of unauthorised crossing facilitated by agent networks: approximately ₹10,000 per person.
- Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025: in force from 1 September 2025; repeals four prior laws (1920, 1939, 1946, 2000 Acts); forged-document penalty 2–7 years' imprisonment plus ₹1–10 lakh fine.
- Section 143, BNS 2023 (in force 1 July 2024, replacing IPC Section 370): base trafficking offence punishable with 7–10 years' rigorous imprisonment; child/multiple-victim trafficking punishable up to life imprisonment.
- Aadhaar Act, 2016, Sections 34 and 35: impersonation/identity-appropriation offences, up to 3 years' imprisonment and/or ₹10,000 fine.
- India–Bangladesh border: approximately 4,096 km, the longest land border India shares with a neighbouring country, guarded by the BSF.