Kolkata, May 24 (IANS) A Bangladeshi couple allegedly living illegally in West Bengal for the last 14 years has been arrested from the Jagacha police station area in Howrah district, police said on Sunday.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Ramzan Ghazi, 36, and Arifa Begum, 34.

According to police, a raid was conducted at a house under the Jagacha police station area following a tip-off, during which the couple was apprehended. Police said the two are husband and wife and were staying there with their four children.

Two of the children are below seven years of age. They have been sent to a shelter home in Liluah in Howrah district, while the remaining two children have been kept with their mother.

After preliminary investigation, police said the Bangladeshi couple had been staying in India illegally for the last 14 years. Ramzan and Arifa allegedly entered West Bengal by paying a large amount of money to brokers operating along the border.

Since then, they had reportedly been residing in the Unsani Majherpara area under Jagacha police station limits in Howrah district.

Ramzan reportedly earned his livelihood by selling tender coconut water, palm fruit and other items in the local market.

According to police, by 2014, the couple had managed to procure ration cards, voter identity cards, Aadhaar cards, PAN cards and passports allegedly using forged documents. The couple had also reportedly cast their votes in the last Lok Sabha elections.

Police sources said the names of Ramzan and Arifa were deleted from Bengal’s electoral rolls following the recently conducted Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.

The Jagacha police station later arrested the couple on charges of illegal entry and unauthorised stay in the country. According to police sources, a case has been registered against them under provisions of the Immigration and Foreigners Act.

After a high-level administrative meeting at the New Collectorate Building in Howrah on Thursday, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari instructed the police that if Bangladeshi infiltrators are apprehended at Howrah station, they should be handed over directly to the Border Security Force (BSF).

The state government has also ordered the creation of “holding centres” in every district to house those suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals or Rohingya infiltrators. Such suspects can be detained at these centres for up to 30 days.

The state government has further said that apart from those newly detained on suspicion of infiltration, individuals arrested earlier and currently in prison awaiting deportation can also be shifted to these holding centres.

–IANS

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