Mumbai Police Arrest Two Bangladeshi Women Who Re-Entered Illegally

Mumbai Police have arrested two Bangladeshi women who managed to re-enter India illegally after being deported just months earlier in August last year. The incidents highlight persistent challenges in border security and immigration enforcement along the India-Bangladesh frontier. Both women were apprehended in different parts of the city without valid travel documents, prompting investigations into possible smuggling networks facilitating their return.

In the first case, a 38-year-old woman identified as Zulekha Jamal Sheikh was detained on Tuesday near the iconic Gateway of India. Acting on specific intelligence, officers questioned her and discovered she had no passport, visa, or any legal authorisation to be in India. Sheikh disclosed that she had been formally deported and handed over to Bangladeshi authorities last August but later crossed back into India through forested areas along the porous border. She had been surviving on the streets in Mumbai’s Kamathipura locality prior to her arrest.

Police investigations into Sheikh’s case revealed her original residence in Bangladesh’s Jashore district. Authorities are now actively probing how she successfully re-entered the country, including whether she received assistance from local guides, traffickers, or an organised racket specialising in illegal border crossings. A case has been registered against her under the Foreigners Act for unauthorised entry and stay in India.

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The second arrest involved 30-year-old Bilkis Begum Sirmiya Akhtar, who was living in a rented room in the upscale Cuffe Parade area. Initially evasive during questioning, her identity was eventually confirmed through an informant. During extended interrogation, Akhtar admitted she had been deported by the Mumbai Crime Branch in August but returned illegally shortly afterwards. A subsequent raid on her residence recovered a mobile phone containing her Bangladeshi national ID card and related photographs.

An FIR has been filed against Akhtar under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Foreigners Act. Police in both cases are intensifying efforts to trace any facilitators or syndicates involved in enabling these illegal re-entries. The arrests underscore ongoing vulnerabilities in monitoring deportees and preventing repeat illegal immigration into Indian territory.

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