Delhi Police on Friday said six suspected illegal Bangladeshi migrants, disguised as transgender women to avoid detection, were arrested from Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area. Police said they underwent “minor surgeries” and “hormonal treatments” to change their appearance and blend into the local transgender community. They were found using a banned application to communicate with their family in Bangladesh.
All six migrants were handed over to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in RK Puram for further deportation proceedings.
Delhi Home Minister Ashish Sood in a statement on Friday said that not a single illegal infiltrator will be allowed to stay in the national capital.
“In collaboration with the police, a well-planned crackdown will be carried out against all illegal infiltrators, including Bangladeshi infiltrators and those who shelter them. The government is committed to removing illegal infiltrators from Delhi,” Sood said, adding that positive results will soon be visible in the national Capital.
The Minister stated that he had mentioned in his Budget speech that the Delhi Government would soon take control of the detention centre in Lampur. He emphasised that the Government in collaboration with the police, would take stringent action not only against all illegal infiltrators, particularly Bangladeshi infiltrators but also against those sheltering them.
The arrests were made on Thursday during a 10-day surveillance drive targeting illegal Bangladeshi migrants in some of the areas.
“Acting on a tip-off, a police team of Foreigners Cell was formed. We got to know that some illegal Bangladeshi nationals were disguising themselves as transgender individuals and engaging in begging at traffic signals to evade suspicion,” said the police officer.
Police received credible information about their presence near Jahangirpuri metro station on Thursday. All six suspects migrants were apprehended from there, he said.
They have been identified as Md Zakria Moina Khan (24), Suhana Khan (21), Akhi Sarkar (22), Md Baoijed Khan (24), Md Rana alias Lobely (26) and Johny Hussain (20).
They are natives of Barguna, Gajipur, Madaripur, Sirajganj, Pabna and Naogoan districts in Bangladesh, senior police officials said.
During interrogation, the migrants revealed they entered India illegally with the assistance of traffickers. They travelled to Delhi via trains and underwent “minor surgeries and hormonal treatments” to alter their appearance.
Police recovered six mobile phones from their possession, all of which had banned applications they used to contact their families in Bangladesh. Further investigations are ongoing, they said.
