India, Jan. 8 -- A sessions court in Pune has convicted 18 Bangladeshi nationals for illegally entering and staying in India without valid travel documents, sentencing them to rigorous imprisonment and fines, and directing the state government to initiate deportation proceedings after completion of their jail terms.

The judgment was delivered by additional sessions judge UP Kulkarni on January 5 in connection with a 2023 FIR registered at Faraskhana Police Station. A copy of the order was made available on Wednesday.

The accused were found guilty under Section 3 read with Section 12(1)(c) of the Passports Act, 1967, and Section 14A(a) and (b) of the Foreigners Act, 1946.

"The accused are sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for tw...