Rajahmundry: Sixteen Bangladeshi nationals were on Saturday arrested from Penugonda village in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh allegedly for staying in the area illegally, police said.

"The Bangladeshis arrested today are working as labourers in a rice mill at Penugonda. They are illegally staying here as none of them has passport or any other legal document," Penugonda sub-inspector of police T Venkateswara Rao said.

Interestingly, police stumbled upon the illegal immigrants when they were looking for two chain-snatchers who Rao said belonged to one "Bihari" gang.

The bike-borne chain-snatchers of the gang had robbed a woman in Bhimavaram of West Godavari district of late and are suspected to have involved in a string of similar incidents in the past.

"As our team was looking for the two youths who belong to 'Bihari gang', we traced 16 Bangladeshis. We are carrying out their detailed investigation," Rao added.