Two Bangladeshis from Rajbari district were arrested on Sunday afternoon in Anandapur, on the south-eastern fringes of Calcutta, after they allegedly failed to produce documents showing how they reached India.
Police said the two were arrested, along with two others from Nadia, while they were “possibly planning to commit a crime”.
Senior officers of Anandapur police station identified the Bangladeshis as Mijan Sheikh, 38, and Rubel Sheikh, 27. The other two arrested were Sobuj Kundu and Rahul Sheikh.
The four were picked up from a place off EM Bypass.
“The two Bangladeshis could not provide valid identity documents. They admitted during questioning that they had entered India illegally,” a senior officer of the East division of Kolkata Police said on Monday.
“The two were arrested under Section 14(B) of the Foreigner Act after they failed to provide any valid document about their entry into India.”
The arrest comes amid reports that Bangladeshis have been fleeing the country amid unrest resulting from protests against reservation of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought the Liberation War.
Mijan Sheikh and Rubel Sheikh are residents of separate villages in the Pangsha police station area in Rajbari district of Bangladesh, the police said.
Together with Sobuj and Rubel, they allegedly rented an accommodation in Narendrapur.
“Preliminary investigations revealed the four had put up at a rented accommodation at Sukanta Para in Narendrapur,” the officer said.
Around 2pm on Sunday, when cops intercepted the four, they failed to provide any clear answer about why they were moving around aimlessly in the area, the police said.
“Sobuj and Rubel are residents of Bahriagachhi village in Nadia. It is still not clear whether they knew the Bangladeshis from before,” the police officer said.
Officers questioning the four said they had told a local acquaintance that they had come to explore business opportunities.
“Our preliminary investigations have revealed that this group was planning to commit a crime. On Sunday afternoon, they were in the process of firming up a plan when we intercepted and arrested them,” the officer said.
The police did not say what crime the four were planning to commit.