BENGALURU: Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara on Thursday revealed that as many as 754 foreigners are illegally staying in the state, even after the expiry of their visas. In all, there are 8,862 foreigners living in the state, he added. Addressing the Legislative Council, he said that of the 754 foreigners staying illegally, 718 are in Bengaluru and efforts are on to trace them.
The government has obtained details about overstaying foreigners from the Foreigners Registration Office (FRO) and teams have been constituted at police stations to locate them. Once they are found, they will be housed at the foreigners detention centre, before being deported, he said.
He was responding to a question by MLC HS Gopinath on the foreigners illegally staying in the state, and some of them alleged to be involved in illegal activities. Parameshwara said that 501 cases are registered against foreigners for various offences, including drug trafficking.
Out of 501, 451 cases are registered in Bengaluru City. The home minister also informed the Council that as many as 4,890 students are staying in the state on Student Visa, and the authorities regularly collect information about their activities from their institutions.