New Delhi, March 21: In a significant breakthrough, the Crime Branch (Southern Range) of Delhi Police has dismantled a syndicate involved in facilitating the illegal entry and settlement of Bangladeshi nationals in India.
Three illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, along with their Indian facilitator, have been arrested. According to a Delhi Police press release, the syndicate was involved in trafficking Bangladeshi nationals into India through Assam and providing them with forged Indian identity documents, enabling them to settle undetected in Delhi/NCR.
The key figure in the operation, identified as Mohd Iqbal Hossain, who also goes by the alias Farhan Khan, was arrested in the Nehru Place area. Hossain, a Bangladeshi national, was found to be in possession of both a Bangladeshi passport and an illegally acquired Indian passport.
It was further revealed that despite being married in Bangladesh, he fraudulently married an Indian woman from Madhya Pradesh through a matrimonial website, posing as an Indian citizen.
Along with Hossain, Razeeb Miyan (alias Rahul Biswas/Amit Yadav) and Md Momin Badsha (alias Mohammad Momin Hussain/Jitender Yadav), both Bangladeshi nationals, were arrested from the Badarpur Border area.
The authorities also arrested Agrasen Kumar, an Indian facilitator who was responsible for issuing Aadhaar cards to these illegal immigrants by submitting false information into the government system.
The Crime Branch recovered a significant amount of incriminating evidence during their raids, including one Indian Passport in the name of Farhan Khan, a Bangladeshi Passport in the name of Mohd Iqbal Hossain, multiple Aadhaar Cards, Indian Driving Licenses, Voter IDs, PAN Cards, and Indian mobile phones in fabricated identities, including those in the names of Jitender Yadav, Amit Yadav, Rahul Biswas, and Mohammad Momin Hussain, several Bangladeshi documents and other vital evidence related to the trafficking network.
The operation also revealed that Agrasen Kumar, an authorised individual for creating Aadhaar cards in a bank, played a key role in this syndicate. Kumar and his associates illegally enrolled multiple Bangladeshi nationals in the Aadhaar system, using completely fabricated details.
Mohd Iqbal Hossain, also known as Farhan Khan, is a seasoned trafficker who has been operating across borders. Originally from Sunamganj, Bangladesh, Hossain entered India in 2017 via Assam and began running a garment business in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar.
Despite being married in Bangladesh and having a daughter, he married an Indian woman from Madhya Pradesh in 2018, hiding his Bangladeshi nationality. He lived with his Indian wife and children in Panchsheel Vihar, Malviya Nagar.
Hossain’s garment business, which he ran in Delhi’s weekly markets, required workers, prompting him to illegally traffic several Bangladeshi nationals into the country.
He was previously arrested in 2020 by the Crime Branch for selling illegal SIM cards and was also known to have visited Bangladesh on an Indian passport multiple times under a Business Purpose Visa.
The Crime Branch, under the leadership of Inspector Vijay Pal Dahiya and Inspector Ram Pratap, had been investigating the syndicate for several months. Sources were deployed in Delhi’s weekly markets, particularly in South and South-East Districts, where illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were suspected to be working in the garment trade.
Undercover operations led by ASI Krishna Pandey and Head Constable Sanjay successfully identified Hossain and his network. Upon intelligence gathering, the Crime Branch team conducted raids at multiple locations, arresting the key suspects and seizing crucial documents. As the investigation continued, more arrests were made, and further raids were carried out to apprehend other members of the syndicate.
The Crime Branch has confirmed that regular raids are underway in Delhi/NCR to arrest other associates involved in the syndicate. Authorities are also reviewing the involvement of additional facilitators and human traffickers in the operation. The arrested individuals have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including those related to foreign nationals, document forgery, and the Aadhaar Act.
IANS