Only 40 Bangla migrants in Ahmedabad's SOG cell, say police

Of the 40,000 illegal Bangladeshi migrants in the city, only 40 are lodged in Special Operations Group (SOG) cell in Juhapura, say police sources. In addition, around 45-50 Bangladeshi migrants are lodged in the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) in Bhuj.

However, Bangladeshi migrants say they live here legally. “We hold all documents of domicile, but police harass us illegally.''
Sources in the police department said that cops have to meet all the expenses of   these migrants, apart from having to deploy jawans to guard them. What's more, many a times police are forced to hire a translator if the migrant doesn't know Hindi.

In the city, the Bangladeshi migrants are settled near Chandola Lake, Narol, Vatva, Vatva GIDC, Lambha, Danilimda, Aslali, Naroda and Odhav. Forced to leave their native country in the face of sheer poverty and lack employment opportunities, they do errands to make their ends meet. Some of them, in this process, get hooked to criminal activities like getting involved in fake notes racket and flesh trade, say police.

ATS chief Manoj Sashidharan said, “Among the Bangladeshis who land here, many are involved in fake notes racket. We also check whether they are informers for ISI sleeper cells. We interrogate them to know the extent of their involvement in any racket.”

BL Solanki, deputy superintendent of police of Special Operations Group, said: “We have caught many Bangladeshis and many others have been nabbed by different police stations in the city. Five to six of them are lodged in our custody for the last four years. The procedure to send them back is also lengthy and tedious.”  

A Bangladeshi migrant, on condition of anonymity said, “Actually, we live here legally. We hold ration card, election card and other documents of domicile. Police though harass us by alleging that we possess fake documents.”