Delhi Police nabs six illegal Bangladeshi migrants disguised as transgender women to avoid detection

New Delhi: Six suspected illegal Bangladeshi migrants, disguised as transgender women to avoid detection, were arrested from Delhi's Jahangirpuri area, a police official said on Friday.

They underwent "minor surgeries" and "hormonal treatments" too to change their appearance and blend into the local transgender community, the official said.

Police said they were found using a banned application to communicate with their family in Bangladesh.

All six migrants were handed over to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in R K Puram for further deportation proceedings.

The arrests were made on Thursday during a 10-day surveillance drive targeting illegal Bangladeshi migrants in some areas.

"Acting on a tip-off, a police team of Foreigners Cell was formed. We got to know that some illegal Bangladeshi nationals were disguising themselves as transgender individuals and engaging in begging at traffic signals to evade suspicion," said the police officer.

Police received credible information about their presence near Jahangirpuri Metro Station on Thursday. All six suspects were apprehended from there, he said.

They have been identified as Md Zakria Moina Khan (24), Suhana Khan (21), Akhi Sarkar (22), Md Baoijed Khan (24), Md Rana alias Lobely (26) and Johny Hussain (20). They are natives of Barguna, Gajipur, Madaripur, Sirajganj, Pabna and Naogoan districts in Bangladesh, police said.

During interrogation, the migrants revealed they entered India illegally with the assistance of traffickers. They travelled to Delhi via trains and underwent "minor surgeries and hormonal treatments" to alter their appearance.

Police recovered six mobile phones from their possession, all of which had banned applications they used to contact their families in Bangladesh. Further investigations are ongoing, they said.