PUNE: After arresting 36 Bangladeshi immigrants — found staying illegally in Pune district — on Saturday, the Pune rural police have launched an investigation into how these immigrants procured key identity documents such as
Aadhaar and PAN cards in their names.
Police said all the immigrants are Buddhists who fled their country in the wake of atrocities on them by locals. Police have recorded their statements.
A majority of the arrested immigrants were found staying as Buddhist monks in Buddha Vihars located in villages near Baramati, Daund, Kurkumbh and Yavat, among others. All these places are small industrial towns and the local people offered them food and other supplies.
Arjun Mohite, the assistant police inspector of the anti-terrorism cell, who led the raids on Saturday, said some of the Bangladeshis came to India three months ago while others have been here for about a year.
“In their statement, the arrested immigrants said they all belong to Chittagong and neighbouring villages in Bangladesh and were targeted by the locals there. They said their homes were damaged and their religious places were destroyed. The immigrants said they left their homeland fearing for their lives,” he said.
Citing the probe so far, Mohite said, “These Bangladeshi nationals obtained tourist visas and took flights to reach India. They were supposed to return after 180 days but they continued their stay illegally. After reaching the villages in Pune district, they obtained Aadhaar and PAN cards using fabricated documents.”
Mohite said the cops were able to establish their true identities because the immigrants had not discarded their original passports and the visas issued by the Indian embassy. “We have also recovered birth certificates and other documents bearing stamps of Bangladeshi authorities,” he said.
“These immigrants told the local villagers that they were from Assam and Tripura. However, we kept the watch on them and realized that they were not Indians,” Mohite said. Police have arrested them under the provisions of the Indian Passport Act and send them to three-day custodial remand. Police will soon initiate the deportation process.
Their arrest reveals how easy it is for illegal immigrants to get fabricated identity documents. And this poses a threat to national security. In the recent past, illegal Bangladeshi immigrants with terror-links were detained in the state by the
Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). The ATS had arrested three Bangladeshis for sheltering terrorists. Two others were detained in Mumbai. ATS officials said those Bangladeshis were affiliated with Ansarul Bangla Team (ABT), a banned terror outfit in Bangladesh and a front for the al Qaeda. They did not have authorised travel documents and had been living in Wanowrie and Akurdi areas for the past five years. Even they were in possession of PAN and Aadhaar cards.
