Bike engines smuggled to run Bangla boats

From The Telegraph

E.M. JOSE

Shillong, Aug. 2: Smuggling of jazzy bikes to Bangladesh from Meghalaya has become a lucrative business for a gang operating along the border the hill state shares with the neighbouring country. The border, earlier used for carrying contraband, is now also used to smuggle Pulsar, Bajaj 100cc and Yamaha RX 100 to Bangladesh where the engines of the bikes are removed to ply motorboats. India does not export bikes to Bangladesh which imports the two-wheelers from Japan and North Korea. Earlier, bikes from the northeastern states, except Assam and Bangladesh, were smuggled to Myanmar to make motorboats. Incidents of theft of at least 50 bikes till July this year from the border areas of Meghalaya have lent credence to the suspicion that there is a thriving nexus between the border criminals in Meghalaya and those in Bangladesh who are engaged in smuggling of bikes. “We had arrested a few Bangladeshi bike-lifters a few months back and their confessions revealed that the bikes’ engines are used in the mechanised boats,” the superintendent of police, West Garo Hills, Dalton Marak, said. The arrests of two Bangladeshi nationals — Santa Koch, alias Sarna, 32, and Kanchan Koch, 22 — in May this year have blown the lid off a thriving bike-smuggling racket. Mahendraganj police with the help of the residents of Chibong Bongre village in West Garo Hills district apprehended the duo at Chibong Bongre village. The bike (registration number ML-09-7718) seized was stolen by them from Haldibari village in West Garo Hills border. Their confessions revealed that engines removed from the bikes are used to make motorboats in Bangladesh. Confirming this, the BSF and Meghalaya police said the engines with good mileage come handy for making motorboats. A manager of a bike showroom here said engines of Pulsar can be easily fixed to motorboats. According to the police, engines of Pulsar consume less petrol. The criminals from Meghalaya border earn more than Rs 10,000 per motorcycle engine, according to the police. The BSF had foiled attempts to smuggle bikes to Bangladesh on six occasions this year. On April 27, the BSF deployed in Garo hills had spotted two persons pushing a bike towards the Bangladesh side from Dalu in West Garo Hills. The smugglers, however, escaped, leaving behind the motorcycle. The public relations officer of the BSF, Ravi Gandhi, also confirmed reports of bike engines being used in the motorboats in Bangladesh. According to the BSF, most of the bikes intercepted were stolen from Tura and nearby areas. “It appears that there is an organised gang of vehicle-lifters in West Garo Hills that has access to Bangladesh,” the BSF said. West Khasi Hills, bordering Bangladesh, has also become a safe haven for bike smugglers. “We had busted a racket in West Khasi Hills border. The gang comprised Garos from Bangladesh. They were also engaged in stealing bikes among other crimes,” West Khasi Hills superintendent of police, M. Kharkrang, said. A gang led by one Kala Mia was busted in Borosora, West Khasi Hills, on July 6. The criminals steal the bikes from the hilly areas of the district and drive down to the Bangladesh border to sell them , the SP said. Once the bikes reach Bangladesh, there are operatives and mechanics who remove the engines for use in the motorboats. Concerned over the rise in incidents of bike theft, Meghalaya police want the bike owners to keep the two-wheelers in safe custody.