3 Bangladeshi women, including one posing as transgender, held in Delhi for illegal stay

New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) Three Bangladeshi women residing illegally in Delhi, including one who posed as a transgender, have been apprehended, a police official said on Saturday.

The accused have been identified as Aleena (22), Tangina Rahaman alias Deepa (22), and Suhan Khan (30), the official said.

According to the police, Rahaman came to India after she allegedly developed a relationship with a man she met on social media.

It is learnt that her lover reportedly helped her cross into India illegally through the Hili and Benapur border areas in West Bengal.

The two subsequently came to Delhi, where they began living together in a rented house, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Bhisham Singh said.

Rahaman, who sold momos, was arrested after she posted a video reel on social media showing an ice cream cart and inadvertently revealing surrounding buildings in a lane.

Police scanned about 50 lanes to locate the area and then identified the house shown in the reel, he added.

"Our team launched a surveillance operation in May and zeroed in on a woman posing as a transgender person from West Bengal. She was selling momos from a street cart and living under the alias 'Deepa' to avoid detection," Singh said, adding that a trap was laid on Thursday, and Deepa was apprehended.

Following her interrogation, two more Bangladeshi women were detained.

Although both initially claimed to be Indian citizens married to local men, their phones and personal items revealed otherwise. On questioning, they admitted to having crossed into India illegally by train and had since been living under false identities.

The DCP added that these women were in live-in relationships and had settled into local communities using fake identities.

Two of the accused were found using smartphones with the banned IMO app to communicate with their families in Bangladesh, police said.

All three have been handed over to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) at RK Puram for deportation proceedings. PTI SSJ AMJ AMJ AMJ