BENGALURU: A 48-year-old Ugandan who was legal adviser to the All-Africa Students Union in Bengaluru, was deported for staying illegally in the country for over 17 years. Bosco Kaweesi, who helped African nationals in the city with legal aid, had used his ‘legal adviser’ tag as a shield to protect himself from law agencies. Police recovered 24 passports of African nationals from his house. Of these passports, 22 belonged to women. Electronic gadgets and bank passbooks were also recovered from him. The house owner who rented out his premises to Kaweesi was also booked.
City Police Commissioner CH Pratap Reddy has requested foreign nationals not to fall prey to such people by handing over their documents. “A ‘Leave India’ notice was served to Bosco by the authorities for violating visa conditions. Once such a notice is issued against a foreigner, the person should leave the country. Accordingly, he was sent back to Uganda,” Bheemashankar Guled, Deputy Commissioner of Police, East division, told TNIE.
Bosco Kaweesi came into the limelight during the 2016 incident of a BBA student who was reportedly chased, stripped and beaten by a mob in Soladevanahally area. He was once arrested in 2006 and sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment of six months. Since then, he was evading police by shifting to different parts of the country.
Kaweesi had arrived in Mumbai in 1995 on a student visa, which was in force till 1998. He got his visa extended and was eligible to stay till August 2005. He sought extension of visa on December 24, 2005, which was not granted till date, but he stayed on in India for nearly 17 years.
He had also moved the High Court, and his petition was dismissed in March 2022. He had married an Indian, Rosa Gadekar Siddi, 38, from Haliyal in Uttara Kannada, in an effort to remain in the country. Despite this, the ‘Leave India’ notice was issued against him.