New Delhi, May 4: In a significant crackdown on illegal immigration, Delhi Police have detained six Bangladeshi women from different parts of the national capital and busted a sprawling network involved in trafficking people from the neighbouring country into India. Authorities confirmed on Sunday that the detained women were residing in India without valid documentation and will be deported.
The East District Police, acting on a tip-off received at Mandawali Police Station, launched a targeted operation under the leadership of Inspector Bhupesh Kumar, SHO Mandawali. Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Abhishek Dhania said, “The team first apprehended a suspected Bangladeshi woman, who later revealed the whereabouts of five others residing illegally in the Paharganj area of Delhi.”
The detained women have been identified as Mim Akhtar (23), Meena Begum (35), Sheikh Munni (36), Payal Sheikh (25), Sonia Akhtar (36), and Taniya Khan (34). Police confirmed that none of the detained women possessed valid immigration documents, and deportation proceedings have been initiated in coordination with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), Delhi.
This operation forms part of an ongoing initiative launched by East District Police on November 19, 2024, to identify and deport illegal immigrants. So far, 15 Bangladeshi nationals have been identified and deported from the district since the launch of the drive.
In a related operation, the Southeast District Police on Saturday dismantled a syndicate involved in trafficking Bangladeshis into India and placing them in low-wage jobs. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Ravi Kumar Singh said that the police arrested seven Bangladeshi nationals, including the mastermind Chand Miya, along with five Indian accomplices — one of whom hails from Kaltali, Assam.
Chand Miya, 55, a resident of Muddu Borishal, Bagerhat district in Bangladesh, had been operating as a trafficker for the last 10-12 years. An unlettered man who entered India at the age of four with his father, Miya initially settled in Seemapuri, Delhi, and later in Taimoor Nagar.
Over the years, he shifted base to Chennai and began operating a network that facilitated the illegal entry of Bangladeshis through porous borders in West Bengal (Benapole area) and Meghalaya. During the operation, authorities recovered several items linked to the network’s fraudulent documentation activities.
These included 11 Aadhaar cards created using fake Indian identities, Bangladeshi ID documents, a computer, four hard drives, a laptop, a colour printer, and Rs 19,170 in cash. So far, 18 Bangladeshi nationals identified through Miya’s network have been deported with assistance from the FRRO. Additionally, police traced 33 more Bangladeshi immigrants in Chennai, arrested under two separate FIRs, and eight others from Vijayawada.