Raj cops crack down on illegal Bangladeshis; brick kilns, factories raided

Jaipur: Police across Rajasthan intensified action against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants employed without documentation, with brick kilns and small factories coming under particular scrutiny for providing cheap labour to undocumented workers.

Sources said that illegal immigrants are often trafficked by agents from West Bengal to Rajasthan, where they find work in industries such as brick kilns, particularly in districts like Sikar and nearby areas," said an official.

In Sikar's Khandela, police raided two brick kilns on Thursday as part of the ongoing crackdown. At a kiln on Chaukdi Road, 37 Bangladeshi workers were found, though three claimed to have documents from West Bengal and Haryana. At another kiln, 12 workers fled before the police arrived and are currently being traced.

"We are also initiating legal proceedings against brick kiln operators who hire illegal Bangladeshi workers despite repeated warnings," said a senior official.

Acting on state govt directives, police teams began combing operations across the state. In Jaipur, 52 individuals suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals were detained over the past three days and transferred to detention centres. These suspects were reportedly residing using forged Indian documents, including Aadhaar and ration cards.

On Thursday, fresh raids were conducted in several parts of the Jaipur, where police questioned over a dozen suspects. On Wednesday, verification revealed that documents of 52 detainees were fake, and all of them were arrested under charges of disturbing public peace. They were presented in court and subsequently sent to jail.

Police said mobile phones recovered from the suspects are being examined for call records and financial transactions, and preliminary findings suggest strong links to Bangladesh. Investigations are underway to identify the networks and agents responsible for facilitating their movement and documentation.

"So far, documents of 52 individuals have been confirmed as forged. They will remain in detention centres until the verification process is complete," said an official, adding that further arrests are likely.