How Indo-Bangla land trade borders on the illegal

Recently, a truck carrying export consignment from India caught fire at Benapole land port area in Bangladesh, right across the Indian border gates at Petrapole in West Bengal. In official records, however, the incident took place at Bongaon in West Bengal.

“This doctoring of records was inevitable, for, otherwise, the truck owner would have lost the insurance cover and been in serious trouble,” said a person closely involved in the deal.

‘Car pass’ misuse

Trucks from either side are allowed to cross over to unload cargo, on the basis of a ‘car pass’ issued by the customs authorities. Introduced with much fanfare by the Finance Ministries of both countries, it doesn’t have a provision for insurance cover.

Also, as per the rules, the truck along with its driver and co-driver should return within 24 hours, but Indian trucks are detained for three-four days (even weeks at times) in Bangladesh.

This means that even if the truck owner had insurance, he would have lost the cover because of overstay in a foreign land. Bringing the damaged vehicle back through the official channel is difficult too.

Needless to say, there is much rent-seeking. . When a North Indian truck driver recently died after a cardiac arrest in Bangladesh, a Bongaon hospital took the responsibility of issuing the death certificate. His truck was detained there for days and he was overstaying in Bangladesh.

Compromised security

The ‘car-pass’ allows the driver and the co-driver to enter Bangladesh once without going through the immigration formalities. The record of such entries and exits are maintained by customs authorities.

However, it is common for drivers to make multiple entries while the vehicle is detained in Benapole. According to a trading agent, “Due to lack of amenities and lawlessness on the Bangladeshi side of the border, our drivers return to India for night stay, leaving the vehicle behind.”

Those associated with the trade claim that Indian car-passes are sold and bought at a good price in Bangladesh as they offer an easy option to enter India bypassing the security wall. With merely a photograph affixed on a piece of paper, doctoring the pass is easy.

Bangladeshi drivers

The car-pass, however, is not the only issue. Two years ago, the driver of an Indian truck was accused of theft at the Petrapole warehouse. Upon search, he was found to be a Bangladeshi, holding driving licences of both the countries.

This is no exception. Out of the 450 vehicles entering Bangladesh every day, 350 are driven by drivers from Bongaon area.

They include roughly 200 local trucks moving goods from warehouses in Bongaon to Bangladesh.

At least 200 of these so-called ‘local’ drivers are Bangladeshis.

The reason is socio-economic. Due to long detention and the alleged rampant extortion in Bangladesh and relatively better earning opportunities in West Bengal, local drivers are not keen to participate in the export trade. The gap is filled by low-paid illegal immigrants, with local gangs providing them with licences and other papers.

But truck owners are not happy about it. What bothers them most is the risk of involvement of such drivers in smuggling, which is said to be rampant.

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