Cops detain more than 400 in bid to detect illegal Bangladeshi settlers

Time of India

3 days ago

Bhubaneswar/Jharsuguda: Police on Tuesday detained more than 400 individuals in Jharsuguda district in an attempt to identify illegal Bangladeshi settlers following a recent directive from the Union home ministry.
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The move comes on a day a Bangladeshi family was also detained in Paradip based on intelligence inputs.
Speaking to TOI, DGP Y B Khurania said the move is part of an ongoing process to identify foreigners who have settled illegally in the country. "We are following due process of law. As per guidelines, the suspects are asked for documents, and a district-level committee sends these credentials to their counterparts in India where they have been issued, to ascertain whether they are bona fide citizens of India," Khurania said.
In Jharsuguda, the individuals have been kept in two designated holding centres — a private engineering college and a wedding venue. The detainees include masons and construction labourers among others.
Inspector general (northern range) Himanshu Lal said so far, 444 suspected individuals have been brought to the centres, and verification process is ongoing. "Among them, those identified as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants will be dealt with as per law," Lal said.
In a recent assembly statement, chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi had revealed that 3,738 Bangladeshi infiltrators have been identified across the state, with the highest numbers being in Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur districts.
Jharsuguda superintendent of police Smit P Parmar said a special task force was constituted at the district level to identify suspected individuals. Since May, police have been preparing a list of suspects based on local intelligence inputs.
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Starting Monday night, police conducted multiple raids across Jharsuguda district. All 12 police stations in the district were involved in the raids. "The process of verifying their citizenship is currently underway, and further details will be shared in due course," Parmar said.
In Paradip, four members of a Bangladeshi family were detained for allegedly residing illegally in the region. The operation was based on intelligence reports indicating the family's unauthorised status.
The detained individuals — a 40-year-old man, his wife (38), daughter and son, aged 19 and 17 — were unable to produce valid Indian citizenship documents. "Instead, authorities found documents confirming their Bangladeshi citizenship," said Rashmi Ranjan Das, inspector in-charge of Paradip Lock police station.
During interrogation, the family admitted to being natives of Dakop sub-district in Khulna district of Bangladesh.
They reportedly entered India illegally through riverine routes in May, initially residing in West Bengal before moving to Jagatsinghpur district.
The development comes even as West Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant wrote to his Odisha counterpart Manoj Ahuja on July 3 alleging that Bengali-speaking people were being unjustly labelled as Bangladeshi infiltrators in Odisha. "This sweeping generalisation is not only unfair and discriminatory, but also deeply hurtful to citizens who have every right to dignity and protection under the law," Pant wrote.
The West Bengal chief secretary noted that he had received reports of such individuals being detained without due legal process in regions around Paradip and across coastal districts such as Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Bhadrak, Malkangiri, Balasore and Cuttack. He wrote that even when these persons produce valid identity documents including Aadhaar cards, ration cards, voter IDs, electricity bills, and PDS documents, their claims are being dismissed.
DGP Khurania dismissed the allegations, saying there has been no violation of procedure.
(With inputs from Ashis Senapati in Kendrapada)