Three Bangladeshi Nationals Arrested for Residing Illegally in Navi Mumbai for Three Decades
Navi Mumbai, 18th February 2025: The Navi Mumbai police have apprehended three Bangladeshi nationals who had been residing illegally in India for the past three decades, authorities reported on Tuesday.
The individuals were arrested on November 24 last year by the Anti-Human Trafficking Cell (AHTC) during an operation targeting illegal immigrants. Sharo Abhtab Sheikh (48) and his wife, Salma Saro Sheikh (39), were residing in a flat in Vashi, Navi Mumbai. During a routine check, they presented various documents, including flat ownership papers, Aadhaar and PAN cards, passports, voter IDs, ration cards, and purported birth certificates from a rural hospital in West Bengal.
The couple was initially released after submitting these documents. However, the police decided to investigate the authenticity of the documents further. On February 2, the AHTC team visited the hospital in West Bengal to verify the birth certificates, where it was confirmed that the documents were forged. Additionally, an intelligence source provided the police with a nationality card indicating that the couple was originally from Bangladesh.
Following these findings, the AHTC arrested the couple along with their 22-year-old son, who was born in India. Authorities revealed that the couple had crossed into India via the Bogna border checkpost, evading security checks, and obtained fake identification documents within the country.
An FIR has been filed against the three individuals under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including cheating, forgery, and the use of forged documents, as well as under the provisions of the Passport (Entry into India) Act and the Foreign Nationals Act.
