DETECT AND DEPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: UP POLICE CHIEF

Uttar Pradesh director general of police OP Singh on Tuesday issued a circular directing all district police chiefs to launch a comprehensive drive to detect and deport illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from the state..

CONFIRMING THE DEVELOPMENT, THE UP POLICE CHIEF SAID THE MOVE WAS AIMED AT STRENGTHENING ‘INTERNAL SECURITY’

Uttar Pradesh director general of police (DGP) O P Singh on Tuesday issued a circular, directing all district police chiefs to launch a comprehensive drive to detect and deport illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from the state.

The move comes amid apprehension that Bharatiya Janata Party is pushing for a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise, like the one carried out in Assam. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath had on September 16 praised the implementation of the NRC in Assam and hinted that a similar drive could be launched in his state, if required.

Confirming the development, the UP police chief said the move was aimed at strengthening “internal security”, but denied its link to any NRC exercise . He said it was a routine exercise and was done in the past as well.

The DGP said police in all the 75 districts have been told to verify the identity of suspected illegal immigrants. Singh said the district police have also been told to record videos and click photographs of the localities inhabited by illegal immigrants.

A senior official posted at state police headquarters in Lucknow said on condition of anonymity that at least 259 Rohingya Muslims were found to be living in Lucknow and Mathura, and more than a thousand Bangladeshis are suspected to be illegally staying in different districts.

The DGP’s circular, a copy of which has been reviewed by HT, cautioned that illegal immigrants take shelter in slums and camps by posing as residents of other states of the country. It stated that the police should also try to verify how the suspected illegal immigrants managed to get different identity proofs, and specify the government facilities they were availing of.

The DGP said people helping them in getting “fake identity proofs” should also be identified and stern action should be 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.

A second senior police official said the detection and deportation of illegal immigrants is not an easy task.