The Ahmedabad police's Special Operations Group (SOG) has detained 18 Bangladeshi nationals who were staying and working in different parts of the Gujarat city without any valid documents, police said on Friday.

The Ahmedabad Crime Branch as well as the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) recently directed the city SOG to take action against Bangladeshi nationals staying illegally in the city, said a release by the SOG.

Upon getting the instructions, the special unit formed five teams and nabbed 18 Bangladeshi nationals from different parts of the city such as Bapunagar, Odhav, Isanpur and Chanakyapuri, during the last couple of days, said the release.

Preliminary probe has revealed these 18 men, in the age-group of 20 to 40 years, entered the country via India-Bangladesh border illegally some time back and were staying in Gujarat's commercial hub without any legal permit or registration, it said.

While most of them worked as daily labourers, some had taken up jobs as tailors, masons or factory workers. The SOG has initiated a detailed probe to find out if they were involved in any criminal activities here, it said.

The crackdown on illegal migrants came weeks after the Gujarat ATS claimed to have busted an Al Qaeda module and arrested four members who hailed from Bangladesh and have been living illegally in Ahmedabad.

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