Identify, deport illegal B’deshis and other foreigners: UP DGP
LUCKNOW : In a move aimed at strengthening internal security, the Uttar Pradesh Police have decided to launch a drive to identify illegal Bangladeshi and other foreign nationals staying in the state for deportation.
Director general of police (DGP) OP Singh on Monday issued a circular to all district police chiefs directing them to launch a comprehensive drive for identification of illegal immigrants.
Speaking over phone, the DGP confirmed the exercise and said it was necessary for strengthening internal security but denied that it was part of the National Register for Citizens. He said it
was a routine exercise and was even done in the past.
He said police in the districts have been told to crosscheck the nationalities of people staying in
camps and slums on the city outskirts, on roadsides around railway stations and bus stands as well as slums that have recently come up on deserted stretches in cities.
Singh said the district police have also been told to record videos and click photographs of the localities suspected to be hideouts of illegal immigrants.
A senior police official at DGP headquarters in Lucknow said at least 259 Rohangiya Muslims in Lucknow and Mathura have already been identified, while several thousand Bangladeshis are suspected to be illegally staying in different districts of the state. The DGP’s circular cautioned that illegal immigrants take shelter in slums and camps by posing as residents of other states of the country. He said the district police should do verification of the suspected illegal immigrants and crosscheck their claims if they identify themselves as residents of other states.
The circular stated that the police should also try to verify how the illegal immigrants managed to get different identity proofs, and speciwfy the state facilities they were availing of.
The DGP said people helping them in getting fake identity proofs should also be identified and stern action taken against them. “These identity proofs could be ration cards, voter lists, driving licences, firearms licences, passports as well as Aadhaar cards,” reads the circular.
The police personnel were asked to collect fingerprints of the suspected illegal immigrants so that their districtwise centralised computerised data base could be prepared.
The circular states that construction agencies, where such illegal immigrants are often suspected to be working as labourers, should also collect their identity proofs before hiring them.
The police drive for identification of illegal immigrants has triggered speculation over implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Uttar Pradesh as it was done in Assam. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had earlier praised the implementation of the NRC in Assam and stated in an interview with an English daily that he would introduce a similar drive in the state, if it was required.
IDENTIFICATION PROCESS
A senior police official said there are several difficulties in identification of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. He said Bangladesh does not accept them as their nationals and often they return to India even after been left on the porous Indian-Bangladesh border. He said the enforcement agencies face difficulty as most of them claim themselves to be residents of West Bengal and the local agencies in West Bengal do not felicitate the verification enquiries sent to them.
The official said scanning of mobile calls made by suspected illegal immigrants to their relatives in Bangladesh and call generation from Bangladesh may help in identifying them.
SINGH SAID THE DISTRICT POLICE HAVE ALSO BEEN TOLD TO RECORD VIDEOS AND CLICK PHOTOGRAPHS OF LOCALITIES SUSPECTED TO BE HIDEOUTS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS