Delhi Police apprehend 2 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants
The Delhi Police have apprehended two illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and identified over 1,000 others during an ongoing crackdown, officials said on Thursday.
With the arrest of four accused, the Delhi Police claimed to have unearthed a syndicate involved in the illegal trade of international cigarette brands. A cache of 6.50 lakh cigarette sticks valued at Rs 66 lakh was seized from the possession of the accused.
The arrested accused are identified as Anas, Saqib, Sameer Ur Rehman, and Sagar Haswani. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Sanjay Kumar Sain said, “An operation uncovered their network, which sourced cigarettes from Guwahati (Assam) and distributed them in Delhi, targeting youngsters and teenagers”.
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Acting on a tip-off, police teams conducted two raids near the Lahori Gate area on Thursday. The first raid uncovered 4.70 lakh cigarette sticks of an international brand and another 80,000 in a godown in the Katra Hiddu area. The premises from where Anas and Saqib operated served as a central storage point, Sain said.
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The second raid targeted a building in Samosa Wali Gali in Lahori Gate area, where lakh cigarette sticks were seized from a shop owned by Sameer Ur Rehman. The stock lacked the statutory warning mandated by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the DCP said He said a case under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act was registered in the matter. The brands they dealt in are popular among young customers and fetch a significant profit margin, the official added.
During interrogation, Saqib, Anas, and Sameer Ur Rehman revealed that their associate Sagar Haswani sourced the cigarettes from Guwahati’s Paltan Bazar. The syndicate imported these cigarettes at low prices, stored them in bulk, and distributed in smaller quantities to retailers. Following their revelations, the police arrested Sagar Haswani from Rohini on Friday. He admitted to organising the logistics, coordinating transportation, and splitting the stock for local distribution.
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