Delhi Police busts Bangladeshi immigration racket; 8 arrested, 6 deported

Delhi Police busted an illegal immigration network, arresting eight Bangladeshi nationals and their Indian accomplices aiding their unlawful stay in South Delhi, an official said Saturday (March 22).

Six other immigrants were deported via the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO), while four more are under scrutiny, he said.

Fake identity document syndicate

During the crackdown, police uncovered a fake identity document syndicate and a cross-border money laundering racket that routed funds to Bangladesh through digital payment apps. Some of the immigrants had even enrolled their children in local schools, he added.

"The network allegedly helped Bangladeshi migrants enter India illegally and provided them with shelter, employment, and forged Aadhaar, PAN, voter ID cards, and even Indian passports," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DSP) (South) Ankita Chauhan said.

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Accused used fake IDs, worked in various trades

Among those arrested was Md Alamgir (34), who came to India in 2007 and worked as a scrap dealer. He had married an Indian woman and had two children, aged 13 and 9. His younger brother, Md Jewel Islam (27), arrived in 2021 and was also engaged in the scrap trade, the officer said.

Another accused, Md Rejaul, had been living in India since 2000 and had obtained an Indian passport, allowing him to travel between India and Bangladesh frequently. He allegedly used his travels to transport money and other goods, Chauhan said.

Police also identified Kamruzzaman, who entered India in 2014 and was working as a delivery agent for an online food delivery platform using forged identity documents, he said.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Nadeem Sheikh was employed as a cleaner and sweeper in Delhi and Md Latif Khan (37), a resident since 2015, worked as a ragpicker and frequently remitted money to Bangladesh through informal channels, he added.

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Several Indians held

The DSP further said that Md Mizanur Rehman (43), who came to India in 2022, was working as a scrap dealer in Kotla Mubarakpur, while Rabiul (25), who arrived the same year, was employed as a hospital attendant in Defence Colony.

Apart from the illegal immigrants, several Indian nationals who played a crucial role in assisting them, were arrested, police said.

The key figure behind the identity forgery syndicate was Md Moinuddin, who operated a computer shop in Delhi and was responsible for manufacturing fake birth certificates and other documents, they said.

The forged papers were then used to create Aadhaar, PAN, and voter ID cards, which in turn allowed the immigrants to access jobs and government services, they added.

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Racket

Police said that Moinuddin worked closely with three Aadhaar enrollment agents -- Zulfiqar Ansari, Javed, and Farman Khan -- who used their official authorization to register the illegal immigrants into the government database.

Investigations also revealed the financial aspect of the racket, with two licensed forex agents, Manwar Hussain and Nimai Karmakar, who allegedly managed the transfer of illicit funds to Bangladesh, DCP Chauhan said.

Hussain, who worked at Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin, collected money from illegal Bangladeshi migrants and facilitated its transfer through a hawala-like system, he said.

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Case registered

Karmakar and another agent, Gouranga Dutta, allegedly handled currency exchanges, further enabling the network to operate undetected, the officer added.

Police also recovered 23 voter ID cards, 19 PAN cards, 17 Aadhaar cards, 11 birth certificates, six blank voter ID cards, and a computer CPU used for document forgery, he said.

A case has been registered under the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for forgery and conspiracy, along with sections of the Foreigners Act, 1946, and the Aadhaar Act, 2016, police said.

Further investigation is underway, they said.

(With agency inputs)