Bangladeshi immigration ring in Thane busted; 5 agents caught

In an early morning operation on Wednesday Crime Branch Unit 6 conducted a strategic arrest of five individuals accused of being illegal immigration agents They were allegedly involved in facilitating the entry of Bangladeshi immigrants and sending Hawala money back to Bangladesh This operation follows the recent arrest of Abu Shahid Abdul Hamid Alimia 23 who was identified as part of the same module during a Saturday night operationThe crime branch had previously arrested Alimia on December 9 from Kamothe Navi Mumbai He allegedly confessed to residing in India after his parents illegally immigrated However the investigation revealed that he had sought the help of agents to enter IndiaAn official from Crime Branch Unit 6 revealed that the operation in Thane was initiated based on information from confidential informants ldquoWe conducted a strategic operation in Thane upon receiving a tipoff from our confidential informants We apprehended 5 individuals involved in the Bangladeshi illegal immigrantsrsquo module They were produced in court on Wednesday and we have been granted custodyFrom left Akram Noor Nabi Sheikh Abu Shahid Abdul Hamid Alimia Bilal Harun Sheikh Leema Sahajahan Haldar Masud Harun Sheikh Monji Khatun Rafiq Sheikh Rafiq Abid Ali Sheikh alias Abdul Qadri Mandal Raman Siqandar Sheikh Suman Momin SheikhThese agents were found with forged Aadhar cards creating fake bank accounts to send money back to Bangladesh We are further investigating the case to trace the source of these forged documentsrdquo he added ldquoThese individuals acted as agents for illegal Bangladeshi immigrants sending money to Bangladesh through illegal means and aiding illegal border crossings into IndiardquoThe five individuals arrested Masud Harun Sheikh 26 Bilal Harun Sheikh 31 Rafiq Abid Ali Sheikh alias Abdul Qadri Mandal 51 Raman Siqandar Sheikh 34 and Suman Momin Sheikh 32 were produced in court on Wednesday and granted police custody until December 16 for further investigations A source from Unit 6 of the Crime Branch informed Midday ldquoAll arrested individuals are illegal immigrants residing at Shantinagar slums Kalwa in Thane They are all residents of the Jessore district in Bangladesh We laid a trap and arrested them who were posing as agents based on the confession of Abu Shahid Abdul Hamid AlimiardquoDCP Raj Tilak Roushan from detection 1 told Midday ldquoA total of nine individuals have now been arrested in connection with this modulerdquo He added ldquoThese individuals not only engaged in illegal immigration but also acted as agents transferring funds to traffickers in Bangladesh to facilitate crossborder immigration operations and sending back Hawala money to Bangladesh Currently we estimate the amount to be in lakhs however we have frozen the bank accounts The charges have been extended to include the possession of forged documents prompting a thorough investigation into whether the arrested individuals were involved in creating these counterfeit documents or solely acted as agents in facilitating illegal border crossings We have established links between the apprehended individuals and Bangladesh where illegal funds were transferred from India Most of these illegal immigrants were in contact with people who frequently travelled to Bangladesh they used to send money with them and survived on the commission granted for the transaction of the moneyrdquo Another source said ldquoWe currently have custody of 6 accused Akram Noor Leema Sahajahan and Monji were granted judicial custodyrdquo