Human hair smuggling along the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal has emerged as a new headache for the Border Security Force (BSF). Over 400 kg of human hair has been confiscated during smuggling in Bangladesh in the last one year. It is known that there is a huge demand for human hair in the wig industry.
BSF’s South Bengal Frontier DIG SS Guleria said that all this is going on since 2021. The first consignment of about 12 kg was seized in Nadia district in February 2021. At least 397 kg of human hair was seized in 2021. He said that about 47 kg have been confiscated so far this year.
Let us inform that on March 3, the latest consignment of about 38 kg of human hair packed in 10 sacks was seized at Tehatta in Nadia district of South Bengal. Officials said the human hair collected by waste pickers from across the country reaches Murshidabad in West Bengal through agents and middlemen.
Milan Choudhary, President of Murshidabad Hair Traders Association said that women who have long hair, they remove the falling hair after regular combing. Garbage pickers and hair collectors collect it from house to house and in cities. Once they get to us they are neatly cleaned before being woven into the wig. Wigs are mainly exported to China.
Let us tell you that this industry was also not untouched by the corona epidemic. Chowdhury said that before the pandemic hit, dozens of Chinese importers used to come to Murshidabad to check the quality before importing wigs. But the pandemic wreaked havoc and they stopped coming due to the tightening of visa rules.