Bengaluru: After a prolonged denial mode, the Bengaluru police have woken up to the Bangladesh illegal immigrants problem and have arrested 16 Bangladeshi citizens from Hebbugodi police station limits.
Besides, the police are now looking into the widespread Bangladeshi illegal immigrants across Bengaluru city, including among the occupants of illegal occupants at Kogilu layout, which the GBA officials had demolished a fortnight ago, creating Kerala-Karnataka rift.
The police received a tip off during a similar demolition drive at Hebbugodi, where illegally constructed houses were cleared by the GBA officials. A person was making a video of the process and just asked a passerby woman as to what she felt about the demolition drive. She turned back and said: `Bangladesh Zindabad' and the video went viral.
Seeing the video, the Hebbugodi police identified the woman as Sarbana Khathuna, residing at Podi village in Hebbugodi. The police realised that she was an illegal immigrant and was living with a group of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. During interrogation, the illegal immigrants confessed that they had paid money ranging from ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 50,000 to get them to Bengaluru.
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The Bangladshis would cross the border and come to Kolkata. From there, they would be brought to Bengaluru in trains and the local agents would help them get local identity cards. Some of them even get BPL cards after a few years. So far, the police have taken 16 persons, including three men into custody.
However, this is not an isolated episode. on Jan 5, the Whitefield police were investigating into rape and murder of a six-year-old girl arrested Yusuf Mir (30). First, it was presumed that he was from West Bengal as he produced his Aadhar Card and Voter ID from there. However, it was revealed that the Aadhar and Voter ID were fake and he was also an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh. He has three wives. While two of them live in Kolkata, Mir and his third wife lived in Whitefield. The police are verifying the documents of his associates, including the parents of the victims, as a quarrel between Mir and the girl's parents led to the murder.
Meanwhile, the BJP fact finding committee has come out with startling revelations about the illegal occupants of Kogilu layout residents. The initial demolition at Kogilu had created furor among many quarters and even led to Kerala-Karnataka rift over minorities rights. The Karnataka government, which initially reacted sharply, slowly started downplaying the issue. It was revealed that not more than 26 illegal occupants were locals, though more than 252 persons applied for government housing schemes.
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The BJP fact finding committee has revealed that the IDs produced by the illegal occupants were improper. In many cases, the illegal occupants had multiple Aadhar and Voter ID cards, leading to a suspicion that they must be either Rohingyas or the Bangladeshi illegal immigrants. The BJP is now seeking NIA probe into the Kogilu illegal occupants' case, while government is looking other way.
