On Thursday (29th February), the Mira Bhayandar Police arrested 8 illegal Rohingya immigrants from the coastal area of Uttan near Bhayandar. The 8 accused persons originally from Myanmar have been charged under the Foreigners Act as well as Passport Entry in India Rules for illegally entering the country.
As per the reports, the accused persons have been identified as Imam Hussain Abdul Kasim (25), Mohammad Johar Noor Mohammad (39), Amir Hussain Asad Ali (42), Ali Hussain Abdul Sobi (49), Noorul Amin Yusuf Ali (52), Kamal Hussain Noor Kamal (35), Mohammad Zakir Hussain Abu Alam (30) and Hamid Hussain Ali Akbar (55).
According to the reports, a team led by police sub-inspector Kunal Kurewad from the Anti-Terrorist Cell (ATC) of the Uttan coastal police station, under the supervision of police inspector (crime) Rishikesh Paval got a tip-off. Based on the same, the team is said to have launched a search operation in the area to arrest the eight illegal immigrants.
The eight were reportedly arrested at the fishing jetty in Chowk village as they attempted to give a slip to the police team on Monday (26th February).
Notably, the immigrants were found speaking fluent Hindi. After failing to present genuine documentation authorizing their stay in the nation, the suspects were arrested and charged under the Indian Passport Act and the Foreigners Act.
The illegal immigrants, who were Rohingya Muslims, claimed to be refugees who had traveled to the coastal zone in quest of work as helpers on fishing boats, prompting the police to contact the Myanmar Embassy in New Delhi for information about the immigrants.
They also claimed that their families were located in Jammu and Kashmir. The central government has lately suggested an urgent suspension of the free movement regime (FMR) to prevent Myanmar nationals from entering India without a visa. Meanwhile, the illegal immigrants were remanded in police custody after appearing before Thane’s district sessions court. Further investigations are underway.
It is important to note that the Mira Road region in Mumbai is Muslim dominant area and has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. In June 2023, massive controversy erupted in the capital city of Maharashtra after one of the Muslim families living in a society on Mira Road, Mumbai brought two goats a day ahead of Bakrid (Bakra-eid, Eid-Ul-Adha). The society members happened to refuse the Muslim family to get the goats inside the society premises for slaughter and said that they wouldn’t allow any kind of slaughtering activity within the society premises. However, chaos erupted after the Muslim family claimed that they were harassed by the society members.
In the second crucial incident that was reported recently in January 2024, the Islamists attacked Hindus with stones, iron rods, sticks, and bamboo, leaving over a dozen people who participated in rallies to commemorate the return of Lord Ram in Ayodhya injured.
In the incident reported from Mira Road, Mumbai, Islamists also disrespected the Hindu religion and hurt the Hindu religious sentiments by tearing flags bearing images of Lord Hanuman. Islamists are also said to have vomited over the flags causing disrespect to the Hindu faith.
Recently, OpIndia also recorded 15 brutal cases of forceful conversion and community crimes from the Mira Road region in the past year. Hindus, especially the women in the region are deliberately harassed, trapped in love affairs and then forced to convert their religion to Islam. OpIndia accounted for 15 such cases. The detailed analysis of these reports can be read here.