NIA picks up Bangladeshi nationals illegally staying near Chennai
The three were posing as migrant workers from West Bengal or NE states and staying near Chennai with fake identity cards.
One of the Bangladeshi nationals with fake identity staying near Chennai is being taken into custody by NIA on Wednesday.
CHENNAI: The National Investigation Agency picked up at least three Bangladeshi citizens who were staying illegally in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry along with 41 others during a nation-wide operation on Wednesday.
Of the total 44 operatives apprehended by NIA, 21 were picked up from Tripura, 10 from Karnataka and 5 from Assam.
The operation aimed at dismantling illegal human trafficking support networks involved in infiltration and settlement of illegal migrants across the Indo-Bangladesh border into India, including those of Rohingya origin.
NIA found a Bangladeshi national was staying illegally in Padappai and he had managed to get a fake Aadhar. Further, another Bangladeshi who was staying in Maraimalai Nagar also managed to get a fake Aadhar card from a Tripura address and both of them were picked up and further investigations are on.
Following registration of 4 human trafficking cases at the NIA branches in Guwahati, Chennai, Bangalore, Jaipur, simultaneous and synchronised raids and searches were carried out at a total of 55 locations across in Tripura, Assam, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Haryana, Rajasthan, Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry.
NIA investigations in the case revealed that different modules of this illegal human trafficking network were spread over various States, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmiri operating.
During the search operations digital devices, such as mobile phones, SIM cards, and pen drives were seized along with a significant number of identity-related documents, including Aadhar cards and Pan Cards, suspected to be forged. NIA teams also seized Indian currency notes with a total value exceeding Rs. 20 lakhs and foreign currency amounting to USD 4550.