They come in as students from Bangladesh to a convenient double-life in India. With “student” stamped on their papers, they don’t have to worry about the law enforcement agencies for the duration of their visa. And then, they seem to carry on as illegals at a variety of “Islamic” study centres, from Lucknow to Hyderabad.

There is growing evidence of how terror networks along the Bangladesh-West Bengal border are pushing in cadres in the guise of students. Among all the checkposts, Haridaspur in Bongaon, about 100 km form Kolkata, is reportedly the most “active” in terms of trans-border smuggling and human trafficking.

Osman Goni is an example of how easy it can be. He entered India with a valid Bangladeshi passport and an endorsed student visa from Indian authorities for a period of 30 days — Oct 17-Nov 16, 2006. His chance arrest at Haridaspur check post on August 22, 2007 revealed that he had been in India for well over a year.

Though his detention was not immediately linked to any terrorist activities, his interrogation and search brought out damaging evidence, documents with The Indian Express show. Goni had procured a student identity card for Jamia Anwar-ul-Huda in Hyderabad in India. The identity card gives details of the location of the institution where Osman was supposed to be studying — Naddi Mooseguda, near Kishan Bagh, Bahadurpur, Hyderabad- 64 (Andhra Pradesh), India.

Closer scrutiny lays bare the discrepancies in his record and the security threat that students like Osman pose. His date of birth in the passport is December 8, 1985. It becomes July 8, 1984 in his student identity card from the Hyderabad-based institute.

... contd.