Bilaspur police have detained 23 suspected Bangladeshis allegedly using fake Indian documents. The case has triggered verification across West Bengal and may lead to deportation.
Twenty-three suspected Bangladeshis living in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district and allegedly using fake Indian documents have been detained by the district police’s Special Task Force, an official said on Sunday.
The police said the detainees were found during a special drive to identify suspected illegal immigrants, infiltrators from Bangladesh and people living without valid documents. The suspects have been sent to a holding centre in Raipur while the verification process is completed.
Bilaspur Senior Superintendent of Police Rajnesh Singh said the STF, headed by Additional Superintendent of Police (IUCAW) Rashmeet Kaur Chawla and comprising seven inspectors, had been carrying out checks across the district for the past two months.
“The STF carried out checks at several locations across the district in the last two months. Some 1,162 people were checked during the drive and 23 were found to have allegedly submitted false or fake documents,” he said.
He said STF teams were later sent to several districts in West Bengal, including Murshidabad, Jangipur and Malda, from where the suspects had claimed they belonged, to verify their identities and addresses.
“All the details and documents provided by these people for identification were found to be false,” Singh said.
According to the police, the suspects were involved in hawking in Bilaspur and had been coming to the district for around two years. All 23 were living in the Sirgitti police station area and were sent to a holding or detention centre in Raipur on September 4 pending completion of the verification process.
“The investigations conducted by the STF in Murshidabad and surrounding districts have established that all of them are from Bangladesh. However, we are awaiting further confirmation, following which the deportation process will be initiated,” the SSP said.