The men were booked under the Passport Act and the Foreigners Act and were placed under arrest, the police said. The men were booked under the Passport Act and the Foreigners Act and were placed under arrest, the police said.

SEVEN BANGLADESHI nationals, who allegedly did not have the required documents for their stay in India, have been arrested at Arnala beach in Virar.

A spokesperson for the Palghar district police said that the Anti-Terrorism Cell (ATC) had received information that the seven men were living near a fish market in Tirupati Nagar. The Bangladeshis, who were arrested on Wednesday, have been identified as Shahabuddin Abdul Moteen Bhuiya (36), Mohammad Islam Abdul Latif Shaikh (22), Shahalam Noorislam Shaikh (22), Mohammad Amir Mannu Shaikh (19), Saidul Islam Kamalmiya Shaikh (20), Rohulameen Zulmat Ali (29) and Shahabuddin Mujbir Haque (40).

Mansingh Patil, Assistant Police Inspector (ATC) said that the men had been staying in Arnala for different lengths of time. “Some of the younger men had arrived only two months ago while some others had been here for at least two years. They had found daily wage work at the fish market and chicken shops,” he added. The men were booked under the Passport Act and the Foreigners Act.

This year, the ATC has arrested 18 people it claims are “illegal immigrants” from Bangladesh, lured to the district by the promise of employment, cheap labour and proximity to Mumbai.

Patil, however, said that it is extremely difficult to establish nationalities of Bangladeshis living illegally in the district. “Our information needs to be very precise before we make an arrest. Usually, illegal immigrants keep documentation safe with a friend or trusted acquaintance and do not immediately confess. It is only when we trace the documents that we can prove their nationalities in court,” he added.

Unauthorised Bangladeshi immigrants are known to live in slum pockets in Mira-Bhayander, Vasai, Nallasopara and parts of Virar. A senior district police officer said that this was the first time that their presence was detected in the beach town of Arnala and that a search was underway to locate more such immigrants.

“They come here for work and because they have easy access to Mumbai with the help of the local train network. Women usually take up work as domestic helps and cleaners while men work in stables or as manual labourers. They are willing to do work that local residents don’t,” said the official.

Imprisonment under the Passport Act and Foreigners Act range between one and five years. Depending on the outcome of each case, once the trial is completed, a police team escorts the immigrants to the International Check Post on the India-Bangladesh border.

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