Gurugram police detain 15 Bangladeshis, say they crossed border fence and used underground pipes to enter India

Gurugram. Fifteen Bangladeshi nationals found living without papers in Gurugram’s Bajghera area have been sent to the detention centre in Manesar. Police said the group got into India through West Bengal. Some came by water, some climbed over the barbed-wire border fence and some crawled through underground pipes.

The proclaimed offenders (PO) staff of Gurugram Police picked them up during a checking drive in the Bajghera police station area. Fourteen of them are men and one is a woman.

It is the second such case in Gurugram within days. Haryana’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) recently detained 14 Bangladeshi nationals in the city.

How did they reach Gurugram?

Police said all 15 come from different districts of Bangladesh. During questioning, they told police they had contacted human traffickers working along the India-Bangladesh border.

According to police, touts took them across the border by risky routes and brought them into West Bengal. From there, middlemen helped them reach Gurugram without being noticed. They had been living illegally in Bajghera since then.

What did police find on them?

When police surrounded the suspects and asked for papers proving they were Indian citizens, none of them could show any. A search turned up Bangladeshi identity cards, citizenship documents and other suspicious papers.

None of the 15 had a valid visa, a passport or any government permit that allows a foreigner to stay in India. Police then detained all of them.

What happens next?

After completing legal formalities, the PO staff moved all 15 to the Manesar detention centre. Police officials said legal action is being taken against them under the foreigners law and other related sections.

Officials said there would be no compromise on national security at any level. They said the drive to trace foreigners living illegally in Gurugram and nearby areas, check their documents and deport those caught will go on.