Palghar (Maharashtra), Feb 12 (IANS): In a post-midnight swoop, the Palghar Anti-Terrorist Cell and Anti Human Trafficking Unit nabbed 22 Bangladeshis living illegally, an official said here on Wednesday.

Following a tip-off, teams of ATC and AHTU raided a temporary slum that had come up near Pardhiwadi, in Rajodi village of the picturesque coastal tourist spot of Arnala.

The police have arrested 12 men and 10 women who were unauthorisedly living in hutments and took them to the police station for detailed investigations.

"They said that they are from Bangladesh and do not have valid documents to enter and live in this country. They have been booked under various sections of the Indian Passport Act and Foreigners Act," an official from Palghar Police told IANS.

Those arrested are in the age-range of 19-52, and hail mostly from the Jessore and Satkhira districts on the Bangladesh border with India.

Police are now tracking other localities to ascertain whether any more illegal Bangladeshi migrants are holed up in the Palghar district, around 100 kms north of Mumbai.

The development came barely four days after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray organized a huge procession in Mumbai (Feb 9) demanding the ouster of all illegal Pakistani-Bangladeshi migrants hiding in the state.

Earlier, in two separate crackdowns in December 2019, the Palghar police had weeded out 12 and nine Bangladeshis (total 21) living illegally in the district and started their deportation proceedings.