Odisha STF Nabs Ten Illegal Immigrants in Sting Op
Seven mobile phones, Bangladeshi currency notes besides Indian currency notes were recovered and seized from their possession.
The Special Task Force of Odisha Police on Sunday arrested ten Bangla infiltrators, including a minor, who were unlawfully staying in Bhubaneswar after crossing over the country’s border near Dhuburi in Assam, a senior STF official said on Sunday.
They were nabbed near the Bhubaneswar railway station. A team of STF sleuths on Saturday carried out a raid at the Bhubaneswar Railway Station platform after the receipt of some inputs from "confidential sources" about the travel of the illegal immigrants without any valid document to Odisha. They were booked under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act 1946, informed the STF official.
The foreign nationals had no Passport, Visa or any valid travel document. After intense interragation, they revealed that they illegally immigrated to India through the Assam border. All the infiltrators were muslims, and bonafide settlers of Maymeenisingh, Bagerhat, Prispur and Dhaka districts of the neighbouring country, a statement issued by the STF says.
The foreign nationals were staying near the local railway station suppressing their original identity. The motive of illegally immigrating to India is being ascertained, added the official. Seven mobile phones, Bangladeshi currency notes besides Indian currency notes were recovered and seized from their possession.
They were later remanded to judicial custody. STF will bring them on remand for further interrogation and will move to Court, said STF authorities.
Orissa Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi in 2024 had informed the State assembly that a total of 3,740 Bangladeshi infiltrators were living in the State illegally till the year 2021. He also revealed that out of the total infiltrators illegally residing in the State, 1,649 live in Kendrapara district, followed by 1,112 in Jagatsinghpur, 655 in Malkangiri, 199 in Bhadrak, 106 in Nabarangpur, 17 in Bhubaneswar in Khurda district and two persons in Bargarh district.
CM Majhi had also said in the house that a direction has been issued to form committees comprising officers of tehslis, blocks and police stations to identify the infiltrators residing at various places across the State (with inputs from agencies and other news reports).
