16 Bangladeshis held off Kochi

 The Kerala Police on Sunday took into custody 16 Bangladeshis without travel documents from Nedumbassery near Kochi. Sixteen other migrants have also been held for failing to produce proper addresses. They would be produced before a court on Monday.

The 16 Bangladesh nationals, who were staying with migrant workers from other states, were held from Nedumbassery on the basis of information provided by the Intelligence wing of the police. The Special Branch of the police had found that these migrants had made several calls from their mobile phones to Bangladesh.

The police have charged them under relevant sections of the Passport Act and Foreigners’ Act. Forged documents describing them as natives of West Bengal have also been seized from them. A Special Branch team headed by Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar questioned them.

The Special Branch had recently stepped up surveillance over the migrant workers staying in the Nedumbassery area following suspicions regarding presence of illegal migrants. Thousands of migrants are employed in the construction sector in the area where development works are progressing at a fast pace.

Responses