KOLKATA, Nov 26: Thirteen Indian labourers, including eight from West Bengal, have been sentenced to six months of imprisonment in eastern Africa's Tanzania for allegedly travelling without valid documents, an official from National Anti-trafficking Committee (NATC) said.
The labourers were allegedly promised a lucrative salary and sent to Tanzania for doing carpenter's job in October by an agent from West Bengal but they were detained on arrival at the airport there as their documents were forged.
The police said they have already arrested the agent involved in supplying forged documents to the eight labourers from West Bengal.
"As per our information eight persons from West Bengal's Nadia district have been arrested by the Tanzania government. We have filed a case in the district's Hanskhali Police Station and arrested one person in this connection," Nadia District Superintendent of Police (DSP) Rupesh Kumar told IANS.
"They reached Tanzania on October 27 and were promised visa on arrival. But they were detained by the local immigration authorities till November 7, as the labour permits given to them, turned out to be fake," NATC Chairman Sheikh Jinnar Ali told IANS.
"They were produced in Tanzania court in Dar es Salaam city and have been given six months of imprisonment for illegal entry," he said. - IANS
