10 suspected Bangladeshi nationals arrested in Kochi

The Palarivattom police have arrested 10 suspected Bangladeshi nationals for allegedly residing illegally in the State without valid travel documents.

The arrested are Lalon Hossain, 37, Riad Ali, 22, Sumon Mondal, 24, Fedos Mondol, 37, Johny Ahmed, 28, Rajibn Hussain, 26, Abdur Zabbasm, 50, and Mithan Ali, 34, all from Kushtia district in Bangladesh, and Rajshahi district natives Rahin Ali, 20, and Bulbul Ahamed, 26.

They have been booked under relevant provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920.

The arrests were made during an inspection held at a house near Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Link Road on Thursday evening based on intelligence inputs. According to the first information report (FIR), the members of the group were friends who had been engaged in scrap collection works in Kerala for nearly a year. Soft copies of Bangladeshi national identity cards and birth certificates were found in the mobile phones of the accused, the FIR said.