Bangladeshis everywhere, but police record shows only four

ACCORDING TO THE CRIME BRANCH, MANY BANGLADESHIS GET INDIAN DOCUMENTS SUCH AS PAN CARD, PASSPORT IN ASSAM AND WEST BENGAL

NAVI MUMBAI: Even as the Navi Mumbai police are arresting more than 200 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants every year, the city special branch record says there are only four Bangladeshis in the satellite city.

According to the crime branch officers, many Bangladeshis manage to get Indian documents such as PAN card and passport in Assam and West Bengal. “It is very difficult to take action against such Bangladeshis, if they manage to get Indian documents,” an officer said.

Although they might have submitted f ake documents, the identity cards (PAN card or passport) they get are authentic. This makes is difficult for the police to brand them as illegal.

Just after t aking charge around a year ago, Navi Mumbai police commissioner KL Prasad had said that Bangladeshis were a bigger threat than the Nigerians as it’s difficult to identify them because of their resemblance with Indians.

Similarly, only 41 Nigerians have registered themselves with the city police. Places such as Kopar Khairane, Vashigaon, Kamothe, Kharghar and New Panvel are teeming with Nigerians.

Prashant Kheire, deputy commissioner of police (special branch), said: “The problem with Nigerians is that many of them stay back in India even after their visas expired. Whenever we come to know about such people, we arrest them.”

A senior officer, who used to work with the special branch, said: “Several Nigerians have registered themselves with the Mumbai or Thane police. However, they keep coming to Navi Mumbai to meet friends. That is the reason their actual number seems to be higher.”

As of now, 940 foreigners are staying in Navi Mumbai. The number also includes 202 Americans and 63 Britishers. “A majority of the American and British nationals living in Navi Mumbai are of Indian origin,” another officer said.