Police take away more than 450 immigrants, allegedly residing illegally, after they detained in a combing operation in different localities, in Ahmedabada, Saturday, April 26.
Credit: PTI Photo
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat police on Saturday detained 1,024 people, said to be Bangladeshi nationals, from Ahmedabad and Surat who have allegedly been living here on fake documents they procured from West Bengal.
"Last night, the Gujarat Police conducted a statewide operation, in which 890 illegal Bangladeshis were detained in Ahmedabad and 134 in Surat. They were residing in various states, including Gujarat using fake documents they had obtained from Bengal," the state government said in a statement on Saturday.
It said that a detailed investigation is being conducted at the joint interrogation centre involving various security agencies. The statement claimed that "the Bangladeshi nationals have been found to be involved in drugs, human trafficking and other criminal activities in the past."
It said some of the detained people are suspected to have been working as sleeper cell of terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. The state police's move comes days after 26 men, mostly tourists, were gunned down in Kashmir's Pahalgam in one of the deadliest attack on civilians in the valley.
"I want to give a message to those Bangladeshis or anyone living illegally here to surrender voluntarily or else be ready to face strong repercussion not seen in the past or future (sic)," Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi told reporters following the operation in Surat. He termed the operation as "historic".
During a press conference, Director General of Police, Vikas Sahay said that the process of deportation takes time as the identity of the suspected Bangladeshi nationals will have to established based on evidence.
"We need to have documentary evidence, human intelligence and other proof to established their citizenship after investigation. First, we will have to send a report to the Union Government's Ministry of External Affairs and subsequently with the help of BSF, the deportation takes place," Sahay said.
In the operation, police agencies such as Special Operations Group, Detection of Crime Branch, Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, among other agencies were involved in Ahmedabad as well as Surat. The police also paraded the suspected Bangladeshi nationals in full public view.