ASSAM NGO FILES FIR AGAINST NRC EX-COORDINATOR OVER 'ANOMALIES'

GUWAHATI: An Assam-based NGO has lodged a police complaint against former coordinator of National Register of Citizens (NRC) Prateek Hajela, alleging manipulation of family tree verification to include names of illegal migrants in the list, which was to include names of genuine Indian citizens.

“We suspect there was manipulation in family tree verification during the process that led to inclusion of many illegal and doubtful persons in the updated NRC,” said Abhijeet Sharma of Assam Public Works (APW), whose petition in the Supreme Court in 2009, had set the ball rolling for updating the NRC for Assam. “We suspect Hajela and his close associates in collaboration with some officers, data entry operators and leaders from minority community used government mechanism to insert names of illegal migrants in the list,” Sharma added.

APW has filed the FIR against Hajela with the state criminal investigation department on Monday. This is the 10th FIR lodged by APW alleging irregularities in the updated NRC and seeking re-verification.