Ahmedabad: In a massive crackdown since Friday evening, authorities in Ahmedabad and Surat in Gujarat have detained over 550 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh for residing in India with forged documents. Deportation proceedings will follow once verification and interrogation are completed, an official said.
According to him, the coordinated operations were led by multiple law enforcement units, including the Special Operations Group (SOG), Crime Branch, Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), Prevention of Crime Branch (PCB), and local police teams.
In Surat, an overnight combing operation carried out jointly by SOG, DCB, AHTU, PCB, and local police resulted in the detention of more than 100 Bangladeshi nationals. “They had entered India illegally and were living in Surat with forged documents. After the investigation, they will be deported to Bangladesh,” Rajdeep Singh Nakum, deputy commissioner of police, SOG, told the media.
A simultaneous operation was carried out in Ahmedabad around 3 am on Saturday. Teams from the Crime Branch, SOG, and Economic Offences Wing (EOW) detained over 450 individuals suspected to be illegal immigrants. DCP Crime Branch Ajit Rajian confirmed to the media that more than 400 people were taken into custody during the early morning sweep.
Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, Ahmedabad, Sharad Singhal, said that these actions were taken in compliance with orders from the state home minister, the Commissioner of Police, and the Director General of Police.
“HM, CP and DGP had directed that all illegal immigrants must be traced and detained. The Crime Branch registered two FIRS from April 2024 till now. 127 illegal Bangladeshis were caught and 77 were deported,” he said.
Singhal noted that the latest raid in Ahmedabad was based on intelligence reports indicating a significant number of undocumented immigrants in the Chandola area.
“We had inputs that a huge number of Bangladeshis are residing in the Chandola area… Early this morning, the police carried out a combing operation. We have detained 457 people so far… Deportation will be processed after interrogation…,” Rajian added.