The Delhi Police have reported the arrest of eight Bangladeshi nationals illegally residing in India and eight Indian nationals who allegedly facilitated their illegal immigration. In addition to those arrested, the police have deported six other illegal Bangladeshi immigrants after completing the necessary proceedings with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), while four others remain under investigation. Mohd Moinuddin, a resident of the Nizamuddin area in Delhi, was identified as one of the main conspirators. He operated a computer shop in Amir Khusro Nagar, where he created fake birth certificates and other documents using sophisticated software tools, said Ankit Chauhan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South). Zulfikar Ansari, from Pul Prahladpur in Delhi, along with Farman Khan and Javed from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, were responsible for creating Aadhaar cards, the police said. "The three worked as private agents authorised by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to produce these cards. They used false documents prepared by Moinuddin to enrol illegal Bangladeshi immigrants into the Aadhaar system," DCP Chauhan said. Once the immigrants were in India, they were allegedly placed in low-paying jobs by another Indian national, Mohd Shaheen, who operated out of Old Delhi. The financial operations of the syndicate were allegedly managed by Manwar Hussain, another Indian national based in Hazrat Nizamuddin. He collected money earned by illegal immigrants working as ragpickers, scrap dealers, and labourers, then transferred the funds to authorised Indian forex agents, who sent the money back to their relatives in Bangladesh, said the police. "Nimai Karmakar and Gaurang Dutta, two licensed forex agents in Bashirat, Bangladesh, received the money from Manwar via UPI. This pooled amount was subsequently transferred through a hawala-like network to multiple relatives of the immigrants in Bangladesh," said DCP Chauhan. Among those arrested were several members of the same Bangladeshi family, including Mohd Jewel, 27, and his brother Mohd Alamgir. "Alamgir arrived in India in 2007 and started working as a scrap dealer. He married an Indian woman and has two sons, aged 13 and 9. His younger brother, Jewel Islam, migrated from Bangladesh in 2021, and they have been living together since then," DCP Chauhan said. Another group involved is the Khan brothers—Latif and Nadeem Sheikh—who lived in Kotla Mubarakpur, Delhi. "Nadeem came to India in 2021 and found work as a cleaner and sweeper, while his brother Mohd Latif has been in India since 2015 and works as a ragpicker. Both possess Aadhaar and PAN cards," DCP Chauhan said. Mizanur Rehman, 43, and Rabiul, 25, allegedly arrived from Bangladesh in 2022. Rabiul works as a hospital attendant in the Defence Colony, while Rehman deals with scrap. Mohd Rejaul is said to be the longest-residing illegal immigrant among those arrested. "He came to India 24 years ago in 2000 and works as a cab driver. He married an Indian woman and travelled to Bangladesh on average twice a month using a Bangladeshi visa to transport money and other goods. Recently, he has made 22 trips to Bangladesh in the past two years," said DCP Chauhan. Kamruzzaman, an alleged illegal immigrant from Shyam Nagar, Bangladesh, arrived in India in 2014. Since then, he has been living in the New Town area of West Bengal, posing as an Indian delivery agent using fake IDs, said the police. "We have seized 23 voter cards, 19 PAN cards, 17 Aadhaar cards, 11 birth certificates, and six blank voter ID cards," DCP Chauhan said.
