Gujarat: 362 illegal Bangladeshi nationals held in statewide crackdown

THe gujerat police force feature arrested 362 illegal east pakistani nationals and detained sir thomas more than 782 suspects for questioning under ‘Operation Delta Hunt’, a statewide crackdown carried out simultaneously across multiple cities and districts, according to an official government release.Those arrested include 103 men, 188 women and 71 children. Ahmedabad city recorded the highest number of arrests at 155, followed by Surat city with 84, Ahmedabad rural with 34, East Kutch-Gandhidham with 13 and Bharuch with 12. Detentions were also made in several other districts.Crime Branch joint commissioner of police Sharad Singhal said the operation was planned during a meeting chaired by deputy chief minister Harsh Sanghavi after inputs suggested that a large number of Bangladeshi nationals had entered Gujarat without valid authorisation.Ahmedabad police commissioner GS Malik said more than 30 teams, comprising personnel from the Crime Branch, Special Operations Group and local police units, were deployed across the city as part of the operation.According to Sanghavi, as raids were launched in urban areas, checkpoints were simultaneously set up at bus stations, highways and railway stations to prevent suspects from fleeing. Around 18 people who allegedly attempted to escape were apprehended at these checkpoints.Investigators said many of those detained had entered India through villages in West Bengal two to four years ago or earlier. Police said local intermediaries allegedly helped them obtain state documents, which were later used to secure Aadhaar cards.Police added that fake Aadhaar cards and voter identity cards were recovered during the operation, and the role of trafficking and document-forgery networks is now under investigation.Gujarat director general of police KLN Rao said the operation was based on telecom analysis conducted using data from the Cyber Centre of Excellence. According to police, a database of Indian mobile numbers that had active communication with Bangladeshi numbers was compiled, generating a list of more than 6,200 suspected Bangladeshi nationals.Police said ground-level operations to dismantle illegal networks are continuing on the basis of this database.Sanghavi said strict action would also be taken against those who provided shelter, employment or forged documents to illegal entrants. All detained individuals are being processed for deportation under applicable legal procedures.