The Belagavi police have arrested seven illegal immigrants, including a woman from Bangladesh, who had been staying in the city.
The police have registered two cases under The Foreigners Act, The Passport Act against the seven and produced them before the second additional judicial magistrate first class court, which sent six persons including the woman to judicial custody. The other person was remanded in police custody.
Police have identified the suspects as Mohammad Alamin Shokikuddin Bepari (30), Abdulhai Naiharali Gaj (60), Rohan Shaikh Minto Shaikh (21), Hannanshabbir Hamit Shaddar (22), Aakibali Hussain (20), Hafizulla Islam Maneislam and Anjumbaig Madhu (37).
Deputy Commissioner of Police (law and order) Radhika G said Bepari was intercepted by immigration officials in Pune when he was trying to fly to Dubai with an Indian passport.
“He possessed a valid passport issued by the passport issuing authority, which depicts Bepari as a resident of Belagavi. Bepari was unable to speak in Kannada, Marathi or English, moreover he spoke Hindi with a totally different accent which led to suspicion among the immigration officials who barred him from flying.”
The city police seized an identity card from Bepari which proved he was a Bangladeshi national. Police were shocked to know that Bepari had secured all documents including Aadhaar card, PAN card and EPIC card that helped him get a passport.
“Since Bangaladeshi nationals would not get visas easily from Western countries, Bepari wanted to show himself as an Indian national.”
Following his arrest, Bepari informed about six other Bangladeshi nationals who were illegally residing at Auto Nagar here for the last few years.