JHARSUGUDA/BHUBANESWAR: As part of the massive statewide crackdown against illegal immigrants, Odisha Police has identified 448 suspected Bangladeshis and Rohingyas since Monday night and shifted them to the holding centres for verification.
Jharsuguda police rounded up as many as 444 people suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas, while in Jagatsinghpur, four persons were detained. They had allegedly arrived in Paradip a fortnight back.
Police sources said, of the 444 detained in Jharsuguda, many had been living for a long time and were even employed in different industries, mines and also engaged as masons and house painters in the district. Briefing mediapersons on Monday, Northern Range IG Himansu Kumar Lal said, “The document verification of the 444 people shifted to the holding centres is continuing. Further action will be initiated accordingly.”
Jharsuguda SP Smit Parmar said, as per the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directions, a Special Task Force (STF) has been constituted for identifying foreign nationals living illegally in the state. “A drive was launched by the STF within different police limits in the district during which 444 people were identified and shifted to two holding centres for verification,” he said.
The holding centres have been set up at Black Diamond College of Engineering and Technology in Jharsuguda sub-division and another at Surabhi Kalyan Mandap in Brajrajnagar sub-division. The documents of these individuals are being thoroughly examined to ascertain their nationality, Parmar said.
The MHA has asked all states and Union Territories (UTs) to set up STF in every district to identify and deport illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya settlers. The STF is headed by SP or DCP and functions in coordination with additional district magistrate, civil supplies officer, chief district medical officer, DSP and district intelligence bureau.
The Centre has also asked states/UTs to establish adequate holding centres in each district to shift such illegal immigrants. Acting on the missive, Odisha government has intensified operations to identify foreign nationals living illegally in the state. On June 29, Kendrapara police had identified 18 suspected Bangladeshi nationals residing at different places on the basis of sustained ground-level intelligence and shifted them to a holding centre for further verification.
Earlier in March, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had informed in the Assembly that a total of 3,738 Bangladeshi infiltrators were identified in the state. The highest number of 1,649 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were residing in Kendrapara followed by 1,112 in Jagatsinghpur, 655 in Malkangiri, 199 in Bhadrak, 106 in Nabarangpur and 17 in Bhubaneswar.