A total of 48 illegal Bangladeshi nationals were detained on Friday in various locations across Gujarat's Ahmedabad with the police's crime branch saying that they would be deported soon, news agency PTI reported.
Among those apprehended were eight women and six minors, rounded up from areas including Chandola Lake, Dani Limda, Shah-E-Alam, and Kubernagar.
This action follows the crime branch's discovery of two cases involving the use of forged documents to create fake identities, as well as instances of women from Bangladesh being trafficked into India and forced into prostitution.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Bharat Patel said that eight people were arrested in connection with these cases.
"In a follow-up action, we conducted raids at several locations and questioned nearly 250 Bangladeshi nationals. After a verification of documents, 48 persons were found to be living illegally in the city without any valid documents for periods ranging from two to 10 years," he added.
"Most of them were nabbed from Chandola Lake near Dani Limda area. They had encroached on the dry lake and created a settlement there. We compared satellite images and Google Earth data to assess how much area they had encroached on over the years to get an idea about the number of people living there," said the officer.
{{/usCountry}}"Most of them were nabbed from Chandola Lake near Dani Limda area. They had encroached on the dry lake and created a settlement there. We compared satellite images and Google Earth data to assess how much area they had encroached on over the years to get an idea about the number of people living there," said the officer.
{{/usCountry}}Several Bangladeshi nationals fled the settlement out of fear of detention after hearing about the police action.
"Males usually work as labourers in factories by hiding their real identity, while some are also involved in begging. The probe revealed that some Bangladeshi women were forced into prostitution by their husbands after arriving here. We have tracked their calls to their native places and learned that they were sending a large amount of money back home through hawala channels," the ACP said.
He added that legal procedures are being followed and that these illegal immigrants will be deported to their country with the assistance of the relevant central agencies.
Previous arrests
On Wednesday, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Ranjangaon MIDC police conducted a joint raid in Pune, apprehending 21 Bangladeshi nationals on charges of illegal residence in the country.
Following a tip-off about the presence of Bangladeshi nationals in the Ranjangaon MIDC area, the joint team, guided by Pune rural SP Pankaj Deshmukh, carried out searches and detained 15 men, four women, and two transgender individuals during the operation.
Earlier, shortly after seven illegal Bangladeshi nationals were arrested in Karnataka's Udupi district, the Shivamogga district police apprehended seven more immigrants for staying without proper documentation on October 18.
Additionally, a Bangladeshi national, Mohammed Manik, was arrested at Mangaluru International Airport while attempting to travel to Dubai. His arrest uncovered details about a larger network of illegal immigrants in the region, leading to further arrests.