On Friday (25th October), the police detained 51 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from Ahmedabad city of Gujarat.
According to reports, the city crime branch carried out a 4-month-long investigation, interrogated 250 suspects and found that the infiltrators had filled the Chandola Lake in Ahmedabad with processed waste.
At the same time, they have set up illegal shanties on lake sites. The Ahmedabad crime branch informed that the illegal Bangladeshis had blocked the Narmada pipeline and filled it with processed waste from the Pirana dumping site.
#WATCH | Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Crime Branch detains 48 illegal Bangladeshi migrants pic.twitter.com/wwt7qXwg4k
— ANI (@ANI) October 25, 2024
The infiltrators cut off the water supply to Chandola Lake, which has now been confirmed through satellite images dating back to 1985, 2011 and 2024.
Chandola Lake currently has no natural source of water other than rainfall. The Gujarat government used to fill the water reservoir by pumping Narmada water via pipelines. Despite this, the lake was shrinking over a period of time.
During the investigation, it surfaced that the Bangladeshis blocked the entire pipeline through which Narmada water was being pumped into the lake.
In satellite images released by the crime branch, it could be seen that in just 15 years, a large part of the lake was encroached upon by illegal immigrants.
The local administration has taken action against the illegal encroachments and vacated 60-70% of the houses built on lake sites. Most of the infiltrators have been apprehended or managed to flee.
Some of them were reportedly using Hindu names. On being interrogated, the illegal immigrants claimed that they were from West Bengal.
Bangladeshis were operating using Hindu names
They had prepared forged documents such as Aadhar cards and PAN cards with the signature of a local corporator. The infiltrators had exploited government loopholes to avail welfare schemes
According to DCP Ajit Rajian and Joint Commissioner Sharad Singhal, Bangladeshi women were initially brought here through trafficking channels. Later, the area became a hub for prostitution and anti-national activities.
The detained Bangladeshis will be deported to their home country soon. The incident has created a state of panic among the residents of the area.
