On March 22 and 23, Juhapura witnessed two kidnapping attempts on children. While one woman kidnapper was arrested, the other escaped into Fatehwadi slums nearby. An angry mob gutted 30 hutments in the area. Bengalis and Bangladeshi immigrants live here.
Saleha Mondal's arrest and the subsequent torching of Fatehwadi slums last week has pointed the finger of suspicion at Bangladeshis regarding their involvement in disappearance of children from the city.
Though it has been established that Mondal is a resident of West Bengal, city police are not ruling out the possibility of a Bangladeshi angle to kids going missing from this city.
Isanpur police, in last three days, have raided Chandola lake area in their jurisdiction which is home to 20,000 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. Forty of them were brought to the police station for questioning while 13 were arrested on Monday night.
These Bangladeshis live in shanties without any residential proof. They do not even possess valid identity proof which could recognize them as citizens of Republic of India. "They (Bangladeshis) don't have Indian passports, voter IDs, PAN cards or driving licences which can establish them as Indian citizens," said AJ Bhagora, PI with Isanpur police station.
Their activities are also under scrutiny of various police wings in the city. They claim to be small-time labourers but Gujarat ATS thinks otherwise. "We suspect that they are involved in counterfeit currency aand can be ISI informers as well and also have a hand in disappearance of children," said Guj ATS chief Manoj Shashidharan.
