Assam Police apprehended 18 Bangladeshi nationals in two separate operations in Guwahati. Five were caught at the railway station heading to Mumbai for work, while 13 were found at a hotel after fleeing a crackdown in Srinagar.
Assam Police apprehended 18 Bangladeshi nationals in separate operations in Guwahati, officials said.
First Operation: 5 Arrested at Guwahati Railway Station
Rajib Saikia, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Assam Police, said that on Tuesday, during routine checking of coaches at Guwahati Railway Station, the Border Branch of Panbazar Police Station apprehended five Bangladeshi nationals, including four women and a man, from the general coach of the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express, which was scheduled to depart for Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Maharashtra.
“Three Aadhaar cards were found in their possession, out of which one Aadhaar number is genuine. The woman who possessed the genuine Aadhaar had come earlier also and got married to someone in Gujarat, as revealed during interrogation,” Saikia said.
“During preliminary enquiry, it was revealed that they were intending to travel to Mumbai by train in search of employment. They had entered India illegally without possessing any valid documents and confessed that they were Bangladeshi nationals. They belong to Dhaka, Bogura, Rajbari, Narail and Jamalpur districts of Bangladesh,” he added.
According to the CPRO, the five individuals disclosed during questioning that they had entered India illegally through the Meghalaya border by land without valid travel or identity documents. Police also found that the group had stayed at Vintage Home hotel in Tokobari. A case has been registered at Panbazar Police Station against the hotel owner and other staff for allegedly facilitating the stay and movement of the foreign nationals.
“During investigation of the case, Panbazar Police have already arrested four persons, including the owner of Vintage Home, Amit Roy Basumatary,” Saikia said.
He added that three other persons – Hajrat Ali, Vishal Paul and Ranjan Dhar – were also apprehended in separate operations conducted by Panbazar Police.
Second Operation: 13 Apprehended at Hotel
In another operation on Wednesday at around 2:30 pm, the Border Branch of Guwahati Police Commissionerate conducted a raid at Shanti Hotel based on specific information and apprehended 13 Bangladeshi nationals, including four men, four women and five children.
“They had reached Guwahati this morning from Delhi and wanted to go back to Bangladesh. During interrogation, they confessed that they had stayed illegally in India for the last 14-15 years near Pantha Chowk in Srinagar,” Saikia said.
He said the individuals claimed they had left Srinagar following a crackdown against Bangladeshi nationals staying illegally there and travelled to Guwahati to return to Bangladesh.
“Further necessary legal action/process is being initiated as per law for their expulsion from India following the provisions of the Immigrants (Expulsion) from Assam Act, 1950,” the CPRO said. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)