COIMBATORE: State intelligence departments have started gathering details of migrant labourers with the support of their employers. The officials said that the initiative was based on a High Court directive and the collated report would be submitted to the government in a month through the offices of the Director General of Police (DGP). However, officials did not furnish the details of the High Court order.
The particulars -- their nativity, address and proof of identity -- are being collected by the ‘Q’ branch, Special Intelligence Unit (SIU) and Special Branch-CID police, who are assisted by the intelligence officials in the city and the special branch police in the rural areas. Officials claimed that profiling became imperative in the light of employers failing to thoroughly investigate the antecedents of the workers.
“By collecting the details of migrant workers, the police would be able to rule out the presence of illegal immigrants. It has been prompted by the recent incidents anti-social elements escaping from their state after committing crimes and landing here to find work. There have been instances of such elements perpetrating crimes here. If anything fishy is found, the worker concerned would be kept on a watch list. We would not be bothering them in anyway,” an official said. The officials cited an instance when youth was found in possession of unlicensed guns.