Family of 9 illegal Bangladeshi nationals nabbed by Delhi Police

New Delhi: A family of nine Bangladeshi nationals who worked in a brick kiln in Haryana's Mewat but fled fearing arrest for entering India illegally have been nabbed by the Delhi police, officials said on Sunday.

Upon receiving information about illegal Bangladeshis, a police team detailed a surveillance and verification drive in Wazirpur JJ Colony on May 23 which led to the detention of one such person.

His interrogation helped the police apprehend eight other Bangladeshi nationals, including a newborn, of the same family who were living in India without valid documents, an official said.

They were nabbed from the Bharat Nagar area of northwest Delhi.

A smartphone with a banned video call and chat app that the family used to communicate with their kin in Bangladesh has been seized from them, he said.

During questioning, the family said that had entered the country illegally through the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district. They initially claimed Indian nationality but were found to be from Bangladesh Kurigram district, police said.

The apprehended individuals, including a 45-day-old infant, were handed over to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) for deportation proceedings.

Police said further investigation was under way to trace the facilitating such entries and the local support system.