The Versova police have arrested a Bangladeshi couple who had been residing illegally in India for the past 25 years, officials said. Police have identified the couple as Iqbal Hanif Sheikh, 43, a labourer, and his wife Adori Iqbal Sheikh, 37, a housewife. The police said that the couple has a 23-year-old son who was born in India, adding that he will also be arrested as according to the Indian Citizenship Act, if parents are residing illegally in India, their children born in India will not acquire Indian citizenship.

Officials said that Iqbal, along with his wife Adori, illegally entered India about 25 years ago in search of work and began working on construction sites as labourers. After two years, they had a son. Police said they found out about their illegal stay through a tip-off and under the guidance of Senior Inspector Gajanan Pawar, a team was formed consisting of investigation officer PSI Sachin Ugle from ATC, and Constables Ganesh Khondge, Prashant Khairnar, and Nitin Thombre to apprehend the accused couple. They were arrested on February 15. “The couple admitted they are Bangladeshi citizens, and we have arrested them for living in India without valid passports and visas. We will arrest their son too as he is also residing without valid documents,” said a police officer.