Indians among 700 illegal expats arrested in Riyadh

Police in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh have arrested 700 illegal expatriates, including Indian nationals.

Police said that those arrested in Wednesday's raids included runaways, workers with forged documents and others facing criminal charges from Yemen, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, the Arab News reported Friday.

Around 200 vendors of vegetables and fruits, 12 wanted men, and a group of bootleggers were also arrested in a major crackdown in Al-Unooz district in the capital of the country.

Prior to the raids, police cordoned off the area to prevent suspects from running away.

The police arrested 9,000 illegal workers -- mainly Asians from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- during other raids in the Hai Al-Wazarah area in the city.

Several shops, restaurants were also raided and Egyptian, Indian, Sudanese and Pakistani workers were arrested.

Prince Khaled bin Bandar, governor, and Prince Turki bin Abdullah, deputy governor of Riyadh province ordered the operation.

The raids are being conducted by police in cooperation with various security and government agencies, including the ministry of commerce, the passports department and the Saudi Red Crescent Authority.

The police arrested 19,425 illegal workers over the past three months in the country's eastern province.

"The local police department is seeking everyone's cooperation in reporting violators to stop this phenomenon," Ziad Al-Ruqaiti, a police officer was quoted as saying.

Police arrested 1,900 labour law violators in a single week in the province a week ago.