Paradip, Nov. 22: Sixteen Bangladeshis, arrested on infiltration charges off the Odisha coast on October 22, were members of an international smuggling gang operating in the garb of fishermen. The gang operated between Bangladesh and India using fishing as a convenient front.

The infiltrators, presently lodged at Kujang jail, were intercepted by the Coast Guard off the Balasore coast, about 90 nautical miles from here, for violating the Maritime Zone of India Act. They hailed from Barishal area of Bangladesh.

Any possible terror links of the infiltrators was also being looked into because they were intercepted off the Balasore coast, which was not far from a vital defence installation at Chandipur, official sources said.

“The investigation will also take into account the coastal security aspect as the vessel was caught not far from Chandipur-based defence installations. Local fishermen had alerted the police and Coast Guard,” said Shantanu Kumar Das, nodal officer, coastal security wing of the state police.

“The arrested Bangladeshi citizens have been found to be members of a smuggling racket, which has its roots in Bangladesh. They were subjected to interrogation by a joint team of investigators after being taken on remand. First, they tried to mislead but later spilled the beans,” said Suresh Devidutta Singh, superintendent of police, Jagatsinghpur. The joint team, comprising officials from Navy, Coast Guard and the state marine police, that quizzed the Bangladeshis, found that the arrested foreigners frequently sneaked into India’s territorial waters with smuggled goods, mainly textiles.

“The Coast Guard had questioned the arrested Bangladeshis. Other investigating agencies, both state and central, had also tried to elicit information from the infiltrators,” Coast Guard DIG, K.P.S. Raghuvamshi told The Telegraph.

Sources said that any possible terror angle to the issue was also being looked into. Orissa police have sought the help of Union ministry of home affairs to expedite the probe. The state marine police authorities here have also written to the higher ups to take up the issue with the Centre to cross-check the antecedents of the arrested Bangladeshis.

Apart from Bangladeshi passports, they were also found to be in the possession of fake Indian passports. The authorities had seized six mobile phones without SIM cards and 9,000 Bangladeshi rupees from them. They also confessed to have possessed fire arms and fired a shot at other fishermen in Balasore. However, they had thrown their weapons and the mobile SIM cards into the sea before being intercepted by the Coast Guard.

The suspicion of the authorities became stronger because of the conflicting statements made by those arrested. While they claimed that they were on their way to Kanthi in Bengal in connection with textile trade, the money they were carrying was too meagre for the purpose.

“It has now been established that the Bangladeshi crew of the seized vessel were active members of a cross-border smuggling racket. Of the 16 foreigners arrested, three were hired labourers,” said Das.

The investigating team also inspected various places in Balasore and Bhadrak districts besides parts of coastal Bengal in connection with the probe. “We have kept the investigation open. We are hopeful of eliciting more clues,” said Tezraj Patel, inspector Paradip marine police station.