Institute of social and economic change, Research institute in Bengaluru, India

Three siblings, all delivered in government hospitals in Thane, are now being transported to Bangladesh, risking permanent separation from their Indian‑citizen mother, Shehnaz Shaikh. The youngest, two‑year‑old Zeenath, was still breastfeeding when officials removed her from Shehnaz’s arms. Refusing to abandon her children, Shehnaz voluntarily accompanied them and her husband, Hassan Mukhtar Shaikh, to the Roadpali detention centre in Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai, reported FPJ. Although she remains confined there under watch, the others have already been flown to Kolkata, where the Border Security Force will assume custody before completing deportation procedures.Hassan’s detention cannot be reduced to the routine label of “illegal Bangladeshi immigrant”; instead, it springs from a bewildering lost‑and‑found saga. His adoptive father, Mukhtar Kadir Shaikh of Mamnoli village in Kalyan, says authorities have held his son without credible evidence. Mukhtar contends that police acted solely on a statement from a Bangladeshi man, Inamul Mulla, who suddenly claimed Hassan was his long‑missing child. That single allegation, the family argues, ignited the chain of events now threatening both detention and forced removal from the country, reported FPJ.The story stretches back to 1999, when a five‑year‑old boy was found wandering near Potgao village, Murbad, by an Adivasi group. A police patil took him to the station, and the patil’s son, who worked as a mason at Mukhtar Shaikh’s home, told the childless couple about the stranded Muslim boy and proposed adoption. The Shaikhs agreed, accepting they must surrender him if relatives emerged. Observers noted the child spoke Hindi, not Bengali. When nobody came forward after a year, Mukhtar filed an affidavit in 2000, became his legal guardian, and enrolled him in the first standard at the village school.As an adult, Hassan worked as a driver in Navi Mumbai. During a trip to Panvel, he heard of Takka village, a name that triggered hazy memories. Exploring the area, he recognised a distinctive temple and sensed he had once lived nearby. Determined to trace his roots, Hassan located a man called Inamul Mulla, who asserted he was Hassan’s Bangladeshi father. On June 7, Shehnaz and the children visited Mulla for Eid, unaware that Panvel police were conducting raids for undocumented migrants and would soon arrest Mulla, who identified Hassan as his son.Relatives from Hassan’s adoptive side remain unconvinced by this dramatic revelation. “How can a thirty‑year‑old man suddenly recover lost childhood memories on cue?” one family member asked, arguing that investigators are capable of extracting statements to fit a preferred narrative. They say they have been prevented from meeting Hassan, Shehnaz, or the children, and that officers confiscated all phones during the late‑night detention operation. The only news arrived through a fleeting call Shehnaz placed to her mother immediately after the raid, revealing the family’s sudden arrest and increasingly uncertain future, reported FPJ.Also Read: Ahmedabad Plane Crash: Ex-Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani’s Final Moments Captured on CCTV Before Tragic Air India AccidentSince then, members of both the Shaikh and Ansari households have shuttled between police stations and local courts in search of even a single document explaining the detention. Police sources say the state is running a special operation against undocumented Bangladeshi nationals; detainees are not produced before magistrates but placed on fast‑track lists for immediate deportation. The families insist this practice violates due‑process rights and leaves them powerless to contest the allegations or submit proof of Hassan’s Indian upbringing, as well as his children’s undisputed birth certificates issued by municipal authorities, reported FPJ.Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Branch) Rashmi Nandedkar has confirmed that an intensified campaign is underway to identify individuals believed to be Bangladeshi nationals living unlawfully in Navi Mumbai and neighbouring districts. She maintained that operational secrecy prevents disclosure of full details until the drive concludes “in the coming days,” reported FPJ. Her brief statement offers little solace to anxious relatives, who say the absence of written explanations or court hearings deprives detainees of basic rights. In this vacuum, rumours flourish, and the families can only guess what will happen next, reported FPJ.The report further added, while authorities prepare travel papers for Hassan and the children – Humaira, eight; Ali, six; and toddler Zeenath – Shehnaz faces the prospect of being left behind in the couple’s rented Bhiwandi home. Relatives note that each child’s birth certificate was issued by the Thane Municipal Corporation or the Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation, underscoring their Indian origin. “Hassan has spent his entire life here. The man claiming to be his biological father possesses no corroborative proof,” a cousin said. “What future awaits a mother stranded here and a man forced into a country he has never known?”The report further added, legal provisions complicate matters further. Under Indian citizenship rules, anyone born in the country before 1987 qualifies automatically, even if both parents are foreign. Those born between 1987 and 2004 qualify if at least one parent is Indian. Children born after 2004, however, must have no Bangladeshi parent to be considered citizens. Investigators maintain that Inamul Mulla and his wife migrated from Bangladesh roughly four decades ago and that Hassan, allegedly born after 1987, therefore falls outside the qualifying categories, rendering him an “illegal” resident subject to removal despite his decades of life and documented roots in Maharashtra.

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