1,024 'Bangladesh illegal immigrants' arrested in Gujarat, ToI reports

Indian authorities have initiated a crackdown on "illegal Bangladeshi immigrants" in Gujarat in reaction to last week's Pahalgam attack. 

Indian police conducted the operation on Friday(25 April) night, resulting in 890 arrests in Ahmedabad and 134 in Surat, says The Times of India.

Among those arrested, four were found to allegedly have links to criminal activities - two of them suspected to be operatives of al-Qaida sleeper cells. Gujarat DGP Vikas Sahay said these individuals were under thorough interrogation at the joint interrogation centre.

"This is our biggest operation against people living illegally in the state," junior home minister Harsh Sanghavi told reporters in Surat. He warned all illegal Bangladeshi residents to surrender voluntarily at police stations within two days or face strict action, adding that arrangements had been made "to complete procedures for their deportation at the earliest".

He said those arrested used fake documents obtained from West Bengal to stay in different parts of India before coming to Gujarat, adding that Bengal would be provided with proof of how the detainees got fake documents made in that state.