Amid politics heating up on the issue of illegal immigrants residing in the national Capital, the Delhi Police on Sunday claimed to have identified 175 people during their verification drive against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants residing in outer Delhi.
Recently, the Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) Secretariat directed the chief secretary and police chief to launch a two-month special drive to identify and take strict action against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants residing in the city. While the BJP alleged the ruling party of using Bangladeshi and Rohingya illegal immigrants as a vote bank, the AAP hit back by accusing the Centre of providing these immigrants with houses and facilities in the Capital.
“The 12-hour verification drive began at 6 pm on Saturday in outer Delhi area,” senior police officials said, adding that the police have intensified their efforts to identify and detain individuals residing without valid documentation.
“As part of the ongoing operations, 175 individuals have been identified as suspected illegal Bangladeshi immigrants during extensive verification drives in outer Delhi," a senior police officer said. The city police launched a drive for the identification of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants residing in Delhi on December 11, a day after the LG Secretariat ordered a crackdown on such persons.
"Concerned about the growing number of undocumented immigrants, the Outer District Police has launched a series of targeted operations and joint checks in various areas under its jurisdiction," the police officer said.
He further added that special teams, including personnel from local police stations, district foreigner cells, and specialised units, have been deployed to conduct door-to-door checks and gather intelligence on suspected illegal immigrants.
Police said that the operations involved thorough scrutiny of documents and detailed interrogations of the identified individuals. "Verification efforts extended beyond the district, with teams dispatched to the native places of these individuals in coordination with local police in their respective areas to authenticate their identities," he added.
Police said that the verification drives are part of a broader initiative to identify and repatriate individuals living in the national capital without valid legal documents.
On December 13, the Delhi Police said they had apprehended two illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and identified over 1,000 others. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Ravi Kumar Singh had said that the teams had identified more than 1,000 people during their drive and apprehended two men from Kalindi Kunj and Hazrat Nizamuddin areas.
The police said that these individuals were staying in the national capital without any valid documentation. Both the accused, identified as 22 year old Abdul Ahad and 32 years old Mohammad Azizul, were apprehended by the Hazrat Nizamuddin Police Station team on December 10 and 12, respectively.
During interrogation, Ahad, hailing from Bangladesh's Sylhet, revealed that he had entered Delhi on December 6 with the help of a Bangladeshi agent in search of work. Azizul, a resident of Dhaka, had admitted to crossing the Benapole border in 2004 through West Bengal and had been living in India ever since.
Police said they had produced both individuals before the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) for deportation proceedings. Meanwhile, the Shahdara police had identified 32 individuals during the operation on December 12.
Teams from different police stations across 15 districts in the national capital are visiting slums and areas like Kalindi Kunj, Shaheen Bagh, Hazrat Nizamuddin, and Jamia Nagar to check voter IDs and Aadhaar cards to identify suspected Bangladeshi immigrants.
The officer also said that, besides sending data to the FRRO, police would personally verify the genuineness of the Aadhaar cards.
According to police sources, over 1,500 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants have been identified during the checks across the entire national capital.
