Kolkata: Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and police officers conducted raids in a section of the Jalpaiguri municipality area where members of the transgender community reside in north Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district on Thursday.
According to the police, about 30 to 50 transgenders have been living in Uttara Rayakatpara area of Ward No. 2 in Jalpaiguri Town for the past seven to eight years.
On Thursday morning, BSF personnel and police officers suddenly came with a large force and surrounded their houses. Some personnel were deployed on the roofs of three houses belonging to the community and one of the houses was searched.
According to the allegations, members of the transgender community have built a few properties there in a matter of few years.
The police and BSF are investigating whether there are Bangladeshi citizens in this house and whether there were illegal firearms.
The area around the house was also searched.
It is known that many people have been coming and going to this house for a long time.
Recently, the community had organised a big event centering around Manasa Puja. All in all, their activities seem suspicious, according to the police.
Inspector-in-Charge of Jalpaiguri’s Kotwali Police Station, Mouman Chakraborty said, “The BSF has come to the house on the basis of information received through sources. We have also been called. The BSF is conducting a search after receiving information about illegal activity in their house.”
Meanwhile, Jalpaiguri Additional Superintendent of Police, Shrinivas MP, said that the search was going on and everything would be revealed later.
Regarding the search since Thursday morning, a transgender community member said, “Police and BSF personnel have come since morning. The search is still going on. They have not told us why they have come. They have taken our fingerprints. They are taking count here and they are asking how many of us are here. We do not have any Bangladeshis here. We all have papers. There is no incident of getting firearms.”
The incident has created a lot of excitement in the area as there is no previous instance of this transgender community coming under the scanner of the police.
(IANS)
