The Bangalore police on Thursday arrested 4 Bangladeshis who were living illegally in the city and have been subsequently accused of murder and running a prostitution racket. All the four people had valid Indian Identity cards like PAN card, Aadhar card, and even Voter ID card.

Even though them having Aadhar cards could be a blessing in disguise as now the authorities can use their and their suspected accomplices’ stored bio-metrics like fingerprints for crime investigation, them having voter cards is a very serious issue. It has been made clear that Aadhar card is not a proof of either Indian citizenship of a domicile but Voter Card is considered as an explicit proof of citizenship.

The Bangalore police are now trying to ascertain as to how they managed to procure the cards. The men named Obimulla (26), Moin Khan (26), Rakimulla (33), and Mohammed Kislu (35) reportedly hail from Parambishnupura Narail in Bangladesh. It is believed that they used a local contact named Janardhana Reddy, who is now absconding, to obtain the cards.

The four men were confronted by the police on late Wednesday night after they found their behaviour suspicious. When the men failed to provide proper explanation, they were taken to the Hennur police station.

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Initially they submitted their ID proofs and claimed to be labourers from West Bengal, but the police inspector noticed their accent to be different from that spoken by Bengalis. After thorough questioning, they acknowledged that they were from Bangladesh and had come to Bangalore a few years ago by illegally crossing the border. They apparently used to bring women from Bangladesh to run a prostitution racket and had also allegedly murdered one of their associates named Imrul Choudary.

Currently various reports suggest that there are about 2 crore illegal Bangladeshis living in India.

This isn’t the only time Bangladeshis have come under scrutiny for perpetrating crime in India. Criminal gangs comprising of Bangladeshis had managed to sneak into India with the help of professional touts, who also help them in procuring weapons. These gangs took part in high profile robberies and then fled back to Bangladesh to wait for things to cool down. They were also known to sometimes team up with local gangs. In April 2013, one such criminal gang headed by a man called Badshah had conducted a robbery in a retired government officer’s home, which resulted in a death of the officer’s son.