Bangladeshi police today detained 44 Nepalese citizens for allegedly overstaying in the country without valid visas.
"All of them were living in different houses of an apartment building at Mirpur area. They were kept inside the same building under police vigil," Mainul Kabir, inspector of Pallabi police station said.
"We informed the Nepalese embassy (in Dhaka) about their detention and await their response for our subsequent steps to send them back home," Kabir said.
Another officer familiar with the situation said only one of the detainees was found to have a valid visa on his passport while the rest were overstaying with expired visa as they came to Bangladesh as tourists.
"Until now we do not have any idea if they were involved in criminal activities," the officer said.
The Home ministry officials said 200,000 Nepalese were legally staying in Bangladesh with valid visa and work permit while police said 10,000 Nepalese were staying illegally after the tenure of their visas expired.
