Illegal Entry, Banking Fraud: How Meghalaya Police Busted Infiltration Racket

A criminal network facilitating the illegal entry of Bangladeshis into India and forging their identity has been busted with the arrest of three Bangladeshi nationals from Mumbai, officials said on Monday. The arrests came after a week-long hunt by the Meghalaya and Maharashtra police.

The investigation began on February 14 when the Meghalaya police received intelligence inputs about a group of suspected Bangladeshi nationals travelling from Guwahati to Shillong. The group of five people, including a child, were detained at the Nongpoh checkpoint in Ri-Bhoi district. Upon interrogation, it was revealed that they had entered India illegally two months ago through a criminal network, travelled to Mumbai in search of work, and were on their way back to the neighbouring country.

The detainees then revealed that they had acquired their Indian documents with the help of Shaikh Mohd Mujib, a key facilitator based in Mumbai's Sewri area.

This led to the arrest of Mujib and two others involved in the racket -Nusrat A Kazi and Jabir Yunus Shaikh.

While Kazi was arrested from Koparkhairane, Shaikh was found in Ulwe. Mujib was arrested from Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg in South Mumbai.

According to officials, the accused used to arrange forged documents using fake address proofs and enlisting middlemen to move illegal immigrants through border towns to metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Ahmedabad. They also exploited fake identities to open bank accounts in the illegal immigrants' names - which were then used for loan fraud and cybercrimes.

They facilitated the illegal entry of at least 24 Bangladesh nationals, including 12 women and three children in the recent past, officials added.

"This reflects a well-oiled network of illegal migration, document forgery, and financial crime with serious implications for national security. With India's porous and difficult-to-monitor borders with Bangladesh - especially in states like Meghalaya - and increasing internal political instability in Bangladesh, the threat posed by such infiltrations has grown significantly. It's a call for heightened vigilance by intelligence agencies and law enforcement across states," Ri-Bhoi District SSP Vivekanand Singh Rathore said.

The police have recovered forged documents, incriminating digital evidence and tools used for fabricating IDs from the accused.

They were brought to Meghalaya on transit remand for further investigation, police said.