The Delhi Police has busted a syndicate involved in facilitating the illegal entry and settlement of Bangladeshi nationals in the national capital.

Three Bangladeshi immigrants along with their Indian facilitator have been arrested, exposing an organised network that exploited forged documents to evade detection, the Delhi Police said in a statement. The arrested people include the kingpin, Md Iqbal Hossain, who operated as Farhan Khan in India. He was apprehended from the Nehru Place area, the statement said. “Investigations revealed that he possessed both a Bangladeshi passport and an illegally acquired Indian passport. Despite already being married in Bangladesh, he fraudulently married an Indian woman from Madhya Pradesh by posing as an Indian citizen through a matrimonial website,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (Crime) Aditya Gautam in the statement said.

Two other Bangladeshi nationals identified as Razeeb Miyan and Md Momin Badsha were also arrested. All three had obtained Indian identity documents, including Aadhaar, voter ID and PAN cards under false names, the statement said.

In addition, an Indian facilitator, Agrasen Kumar, who was responsible for generating Aadhaar cards for illegal immigrants using fraudulent information, was also taken into custody.

The syndicate was engaged in trafficking Bangladeshi nationals into India through the Assam border, where they were then transported to Delhi via train. Upon reaching the capital, they were assisted in procuring forged Indian identity documents, allowing them to settle here.

These documents not only provided them with legal cover but also enabled them to engage in various commercial activities, primarily in the garment trade, it read.

Police also said investigations uncovered that the syndicate had been operating for several years, helping Bangladeshi nationals integrate into Indian society undetected. The illegal immigrants were strategically placed in weekly markets in South and Southeast Delhi, where they worked as garment vendors.

During the raids, the teams recovered a host of incriminating materials, including an Indian passport and multiple Aadhaar cards in different names, Bangladeshi passports and other documents confirming their foreign nationality, Voter ID and PAN cards procured using fraudulent credentials, and several mobile phones containing critical evidence linking them to the illegal operation.

The officer also said the entire network was unearthed after police officers ASI Krishna Pandey and Head Constable Sanjay, posing as garment vendors in weekly markets, gathered intelligence leading to the arrests.

“Based on their findings, a series of raids were conducted. The main accused, Md Iqbal Hossain, was first arrested in Nehru Place, while Razeeb Miyan and Md Momin Badsha were apprehended near Badarpur Border. Their Indian facilitator, Agrasen Kumar, was later arrested after further investigation revealed his role in creating fraudulent Aadhaar cards for the illegal immigrants,” said the DCP. Md Iqbal Hossain, originally from Sunamganj in Sylhet, Bangladesh, dropped out of school in 1995 and engaged in rice trading before moving to England in 2004. After spending nearly five years in the UK working in restaurants and delivery services, he returned to Bangladesh in 2009, where he operated a grocery store until 2016.

Seeking better opportunities, he illegally entered India in 2017 through the Assam border and settled in Delhi. He initially lived in Jamia Nagar, where he established a garment business and later married an Indian woman under pretenses. By 2022, he was residing in Malviya Nagar, with his Indian wife and children, the police said.

In addition to running a garment business, Hossain facilitated the trafficking of Bangladeshi nationals, helping them obtain forged Indian documents to avoid deportation. In 2020, he was arrested for selling illegal SIM cards but continued his illegal activities after securing bail. He even travelled to Bangladesh twice using an Indian passport under a business visa, further cementing his fraudulent identity in India.

Indian facilitator Agrasen Kumar played a crucial role in the syndicate by misusing his position as an Aadhaar enrolment agent in a bank. He reportedly registered multiple Bangladeshi nationals as Indian citizens by manipulating government records, allowing them to obtain official identity documents fraudulently. His involvement helped many undocumented immigrants settle in Delhi/NCR without raising suspicion, the police said.

“Further investigation of the entire syndicate is underway,” said the DCP.