Dinesh Kamath's news item 'Patil warns those who assist illegal immigrants' that was published in Newsband

Patil warns those who assist illegal immigrants

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: Home minister R.R. Patil, while addressing the state Assembly, said that he was very well aware about the intrusion of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune, and Nashik. He said that more and more such immigrants are pouring into the city.

The police have managed to arrest more than seven thousand illegal immigrants but yet they have not been able to bring the situation under control.  Patil spoke about his intention to equip the police with more powers to stop or minimized the entry of these immigrants into the city.

Patil said that these illegal immigrants pretend to belong to West Bengal by showing the residential proof and this creates problem for the police. These fake certificates and documents like pan cards, ration cards and voters identity cards are given to the immigrants by sarpanchs. This makes these immigrants possible to pretend as if they are Indian nationals.

Patil was worried about the fact that the contractors in the real estate sectors were causing problems by hiring these labourers at cheaper rates. He warned that action would be taken against such contractors and employers.

Patil also sought cooperation from the Central Government in this matter by sealing the border that separates India from Bangladesh. Since there is no such demarcated border it becomes difficult for the local police to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh into India.

In spite of all the hurdles in identifying the illegal immigrants, he said, around 7,698 illegal Bangladeshis were arrested and deported back to their country during the last five years.

It is clear that Patil has made a very serious note of this issue and he has warned that the officials who help these immigrants to procure fake documents will be strictly dealt with.