NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police identified approximately 175 individuals residing in Delhi without proper documentation as part of their initiative to address the issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in the capital.
“In response to growing concerns about the illegal stay of Bangladeshi immigrants residing in the country without any valid Indian document, the Outer District Police has started to identify, detain and repatriate individuals living in Delhi without valid documentation. A series of operations/joint checkings have recently been conducted in the jurisdiction of the Outer District,” Delhi Police said in a statement.
“Dedicated teams from Police Stations and Special Units including District Foreigner Cell officials were formed to carry out intensive searches and gather information to trace illegal Bangladeshi Immigrants across the district,” it added.
The Delhi said that teams were dispatched to verify identities in suspects’ places of origin in collaboration with local authorities.
“During these operations/joint checkings, door-to-door checkings have been conducted. 175 individuals have been found to be under suspicion residing in the jurisdiction of Outer District. Thorough interrogations have been conducted and their documents have also been carefully checked and verified,” the statement read.
“Teams were sent to their native places to authenticate their identities in coordination with the local police in their respective areas. Based on the findings of the investigation, further legal action would be initiated as per legal provisions,” it added.
This action follows increased discussions about illegal immigration by various political parties before the Delhi Assembly elections scheduled for February.
Previously, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi instructed its educational institutions to implement measures for identifying illegal Bangladeshi migrants during student admissions. The MCD additionally instructed its health department to prevent issuing birth certificates to illegal migrants.
In a directive dated December 18, the MCD instructed its departments to implement specific preventive measures regarding this matter, requiring weekly progress reports to be submitted to the MCD deputy commissioner’s office “every Friday by 3:30 pm”.
“The education department is requested to take appropriate preventive measures to identify illegal Bangladeshi migrants while giving admission in municipal schools,” the order stated.
The directive also specified the need for “proper identification and verification drives” to identify such pupils currently enrolled in MCD schools.
