Bhubaneswar: Ten persons from Bangladesh were arrested at the Bhubaneswar Railway Station by the Special Task Force (STF) on Sunday for illegally entering Odisha.
The arrested persons have been identified as Md. Hasim (46), Sojib Khan (24), Allam Shaika (41), Md. Azeem (40), Dilara Sheikh (45), Md. Soha (36), Karima Begum (25), Monira Begum (30), Sahana Begum (45), and a 14-year-old juvenile.
A team of STF sleuths on Saturday carried out a raid at the Bhubaneswar Railway Station platform after the receipt of some inputs from confidential sources about the travel of the illegal immigrants without any valid document to Odisha.
“On interrogation, they disclosed that they belong to Bangladesh and had crossed the border illegally through their agent near Dhubri border (Assam) and came to Bhubaneswar to reside here. During their personal search seven mobile phones, some Bangladeshi currency notes and Indian currency notes were recovered and seized from their possession,” the STF said on Sunday.
The STF apprehended 10 numbers of Bangladeshi Nationals including six male, three female persons and a juvenile following the raid by registering a case in this regard on Sunday.
“As Bangladeshi nationals have entered India without any passport, visa or any travel document to reside here at Bhubaneswar suppressing their real identity and hence, they are liable under section14 of the Foreigners Act 1946.
A case under section 14 of the Foreigners Act 1946 has been registered against them and all the accused persons were arrested and were forwarded to judicial custody, added STF sources.
It is pertinent here to mention that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi in 2024 had informed the state assembly that a total of 3,740 Bangladeshi infiltrators were living in the state illegally till the year 2021.
He also revealed that out of the total infiltrators illegally residing in the state, 1,649 live in Kendrapara district, followed by 1,112 in Jagatsinghpur, 655 in Malkangiri, 199 in Bhadrak, 106 in Nabarangpur, 17 in Bhubaneswar in Khurda district and two persons in Bargarh district.
CM Majhi had also said in the house that a direction has been issued to form committees comprising officers of tehslis, blocks and police stations to identify the infiltrators residing at various places across the state.
