Mohammad Habibul, an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant who was one of the seven people arrested in the gangrape of a 72-year-old nun in West Bengal's Nadia district on 14 March, has told the Ludhiana Police that he gained entry into India by paying 2,000 to a BSF member, reports India Today.

The revelations by the arrested Bangladeshi immigrants during their interrogation have revealed how security personnel, entrusted with the job of guarding our borders, were letting in criminals from the neighbouring country for a petty amount. ‘No sir, we did not do this (gang rape). We were just involved in petty thefts,’ claimed Mohammad Habibul, while talking to the media on Friday.

The seven accused, in their twent, had rented out a two-storey building on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh state highway and the accommodation was being used for transit purposes. Police said while two of the arrested foreign nationals are involved in the gang rape, others are part of an international gang involved in cheating and robbing people besides other crimes in India.

Sources said the Ludhiana police have recorded the statements of the arrested illegal Bangladeshi criminals, the report of which being sent to the authorities concerned, including the Border Security Force and the Ministry of Defence. A West Bengal police team is expected to reach Ludhiana on Sunday.

Sources told Mail Today that illegal immigrants mostly enter through the Benapole-Haridaspur border in West Bengal besides the unfenced border area located in Tripura and other states. Sources said illegal Bangladeshis find shelter in the slums of various cities including Kolkata, New Delhi, Kanpur, Mumbai and Ludhiana and also get employment in local factories.

They also form a big chunk of contract labour being supplied to industries in Ludhiana in Punjab and Baddi in Himachal Pradesh.

Salim Sheik, one of the prime accused in West Bengal nun gang rape case, was arrested from a Mumbai slum. Some of the seven illegal Bangladeshi immigrants allegedly involved in the case were also employed in local industrial units and had even managed to procure SIM cards for mobile phones and were in touch with other Bangladeshis in India and Bangladesh.

Police sources said some illegal Bangladeshis also slip into Nepal where they secure passports on forged documents. According to an estimate, there are over one crore illegal Bangladeshi migrants in India.