Indian police arrested at least 37 Bangladeshis who had allegedly illegally entered the Indian state of West Bengal from Kolkata on Sunday afternoon, reports Hindustan Times.
They were detained from a residential building in Kolkata’s Gulshan Colony.
The arrests were made after the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh police came from Lucknow to trace Mahfuzur Rahman (30), an alleged human trafficker who is originally from Munshiganj, ANI reported.
The arrested men were living in an apartment that was used to run a madrassa. None of them had valid passports or visas, but some fake Indian identity cards were seized during the raid, Indian media reported citing a policeman.
“Rahman was arrested from the spot and taken into custody by the UP ATS team. He will be taken to Lucknow on a transit remand, before the men will be produced before a local court,” the police official said.
Police suspect that Rahman helped others to enter India.
Other residents of the building told the police that the arrested men arrived around 45 days ago but never interacted with locals.
With Kolkata gearing up for the December 19 municipal elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed the arrests supports their arguments against the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
BJP State President Sukanta Majumdar, who recently accused the ruling TMC of turning Kolkata into Bangladesh by changing the city’s demographic character, said: “The arrests have vindicated our stand.”