2 days ago
Over 400 suspected illegal immigrants rounded up in Odisha for verification: police
Intensifying its efforts to identify immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar illegally residing in Odisha, the Jharsuguda district administration recently rounded up 444 suspected foreign nationals, officials said.
'We have brought 444 suspected foreign nationals to a centre where their identity verification is being carried out as per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Odisha government,' Jharsuguda Superintendent of Police (SP) Parmar Smit Parshottamdas said on Tuesday.
'These people were mainly working in the construction sector while some were engaged in the mining sector. All 444 of them are men,' the SP said.
Officials said the police have detained four Bangladeshi nationals in the port town of Paradip as well and their verification process has been completed.
In May, the MHA had set a 30-day deadline for all States and Union Territories to verify the identity and documentation of individuals suspected to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar. Those failing to produce valid documents would be liable for deportation, officials said.
It also instructed States to invoke their statutory powers to detect, detain and deport illegal immigrants.
Following the MHA directives, the Odisha government has constituted a special task force in each district comprising officers from different departments.
