Five Bangladeshi nationals held for illegal stay in Navi Mumbai

Thane | Five Bangladeshi nationals have been arrested from a locality in Navi Mumbai for allegedly staying in the country without valid documents, police said on Tuesday.

A team from the Anti-Human Trafficking Cell (AHTC) of Navi Mumbai Police raided a premises at Karanjade in Panvel on Sunday morning and found six Bangladeshi nationals, including two women, living there, a police spokesperson said.

He said five were taken into custody after preliminary verification of their immigration status.

"Three of the accused overstayed in India even after their visas had expired, while the other two had entered the country illegally without any valid travel documents or permissions," the official said.

He said investigations revealed that the accused had managed to fraudulently acquire Indian identity documents, including Aadhaar and PAN cards and voter IDs.

Three accused had even secured Indian passports, he added.

The official said an FIR has been registered at the Panvel Town police station against the accused, Anna Khatun Akash Gazi (35), who was caught with her six-year-old daughter, Alo Khatun Ismail Gazi (31), Istrafil Islam Gazi (25), Kia Akash Gazi (21) and Akash Latif Gazi (40).

He said Mohammad Ismail Aminoddin Yerulkar (52), a retired Indian national, has been named as co-accused for allegedly helping the group obtain Indian identity documents and facilitating their illegal stay in the country.

"The arrested accused were produced before a magistrate on Monday and have been remanded to police custody until May 9 for further investigation," the official said.