Staff reporter

The Office of the Attorney General charged a 28-year-old contractor from Cooch Bihar in India for illegal transportation of immigrants after he was found transporting nine Indian workers from Haa to Thimphu in December last year.

Thimphu police arrested the man, who works as a contractor for Royal Bhutan Army in Haa, on December 14 last year. Investigation revealed that he was transporting the nine workers from Haa to Thimphu when they were arrested.

The nine workers have told police that they did not know they needed a permit to work in Bhutan. They were sent back to India.

Illegal transportation of immigrants is a penal offence according to section 444 of the Penal Code of Bhutan, which states, “A defendant shall be guilty of the offence of illegal transportation of immigrant, if the defendant aids or provides a means for the immigrants to illegally enter into Bhutan.”

The offence is graded a fourth-degree felony with prison terms ranging from three to five years imprisonment.

The case was registered on January 17 in Thimphu dzongkhag court.

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