Lucknow, Oct 28 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested the mastermind of a gang hailing from West Bengal involved in human trafficking and illegal entry of Bangladeshis and Rohingya refugees into India, along with three of his associates.

The mastermind has been identified as Mithun Mandal and his associates Shaon Ahmed, Mominur Islam and Mahendi Hasan.

They were arrested from Deen Dayal Upadhayay Junction on Wednesday for using forged documents like Aadhaar cards and passports that were prepared by Mandal with the promise that the three will be sent to South Africa on an Indian passport.

IG ATS Gajendra Kumar Goswami said that the ATS was working on gangs that used to sneak Bangladeshis and Rohingya into the Indian territory.

"Mithun was a native of Bardhaman district and ran a business of travel operations for European countries," the IG said.

He also said that Ahmed, Islam and Hasan had changed their names and religion to get Indian identity.

"Ahmed changed his name to Pintu Das, Islam to Romi Pal, and Hasan to Bapi Rai to get Aadhaar made. They also used the names to get passports for going abroad on the pretext of jobs," said Goswami.

He said that the gang worked in a planned manner and had illegally got 50 people from across the border into India.

"Mithun used to charge a hefty sum from Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. He has 12 bank accounts with transactions in lakhs," the ATS official said.

Ahmed, Islam and Hasan used to work in a hotel in Madar Ganj in Bangladesh. They had come to India by illegally crossing the border on August 16.

"They will be questioned on how they entered India," the officer said.