AHMEDABAD: Surat police on Monday found 85 of 136 detained Bangladeshis living in Gujarat and also seized bogus Aadhaar and election cards. Many have entered India through agents charging Rs 10,000– Rs 15,000.
Meanwhile, Vadodara police continued their third day of action, grilling over 250 suspects in Navayard.
A special Crime Branch team has launched a parallel probe in Surat.
Simultaneously, illegal power connections were snapped in Ahmedabad’s Chandola Lake area — home to 143 Bangladeshis, now facing deportation. Adding to the sweep, 10 Bangladeshis were held in Morbi and 29 more in Bharuch, tightening the noose statewide.
Tightening the net, a West Bengal IB team landed in Surat on Monday to join forces with Central IB and interrogate suspects, sources confirmed. The move comes after massive combing operations by Surat City Police across Varachha, Pune, and Saroli areas in Zone 1, where over 1,000 individuals — including Bengali leaders — were screened.
During the sweep, 49 suspects were flagged — 10 from Varachha and 39 from Pune — based on document verification. However, after cross-checking with hometown records, all were released, even as the combing and search drive presses on.
Surat Rural SP Hitesh Joysar told the media, "So far, 245 suspected Bangladeshis have been detained and intensively interrogated by the Surat Rural Police. Of these, around 60 have been confirmed as Bangladeshi nationals. Deportation proceedings will be initiated after a thorough investigation." Police sources said.
"The arrested women were involved in casual labour and prostitution. They initially entered through West Bengal and later moved to Surat, where they created bogus documents. Most of them have been found to be in contact with Bangladesh. Those residing illegally will be deported."
Vadodara police intensified their search operations for the third straight day, identifying 14 Bangladeshi nationals — 9 by city police and 5 by railway authorities.
Deportation proceedings are underway as per legal protocols.
Meanwhile, 70 suspects are currently being grilled. In Ahmedabad, the crackdown has unearthed 143 Bangladeshis so far. Authorities have released 200 individuals after thorough verification, while 590 were found in possession of valid passports.
Alarmingly, investigations revealed that some detainees had been deported up to three times. Officials also discovered that several individuals carried documents from Uttar Pradesh, yet could not even speak Hindi, raising serious questions about the authenticity of their papers.