12 arrested as cops bust gang involved in illegal immigration from B'desh

The Delhi Police on Tuesday said it has arrested 12 people, including five illegal Bangladeshi migrants after they busted an "organised immigration syndicate" that allegedly helped Bangladeshi citizens illegally enter India and acquire Indian identities after associates helped them prepare Indian IDs such as Aadhaar and Voter cards using forged documents.

- Karn Pratap Singh

The five arrested illegal migrants were living in Delhi and Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, while the seven Indian nationals were residents of Delhi and Noida who were involved in preparing forged Indian IDs, officers aware of the probe said.

Investigators said they stumbled upon the illegal immigration racket while probing the murder of a man, Sentu Sheikh alias Raja, in south Delhi's Sangam Vihar on October 21. Officers arrested two Bangladeshi couples illegally residing in India and recovered fake Indian IDs such as 21 Aadhaar Cards, four voter ID cards and eight PAN cards from the residence of the dead man.

The probe began when a woman reported her husband, Sheikh, lying unconscious at their residence. An autopsy confirmed strangulation as the cause of death, prompting police to register a case of murder. Investigators arrested two Bangladeshi couples — Midul Miyan alias Akash Ahmed and his wife, and Fardeen Ahmed alias Abhi Ahmed and his wife — who confessed to killing Sheikh over unpaid wages and threats to expose their illegal status.