911 illegal immigrants identified in Bengaluru in 3 years; 365 linked to criminal cases

The Karnataka police have identified 911 illegal immigrants in the State over the last three years, with 365 of them found to have criminal cases registered against them, according to a police report.

Home Minister Priyank Kharge, replying to a question in the Karnataka Legislative Council, said that the action was taken as part of measures against illegal immigration and foreign nationals who were allegedly residing in the State without valid documents or had overstayed their permitted period of stay.

According to the report, police identified 5,304 foreigners in Bengaluru city, of whom 446 were found to be overstaying illegally. The exact number of illegal immigrants identified in other districts was not available. The police said the verification of foreigners was carried out using the District Police Module (DPM) and the Foreigners Identification Portal (FIP). Further action was initiated in coordination with the authorities concerned and immigration officials.

Of the 911 illegal immigrants identified across Karnataka over the past three years, Bangladeshis accounted for the highest number (868), followed by those from Myanmar (20), Nigeria (13), Sri Lanka (8), Nepal (1) and Uganda (1).

The report states that 365 immigrants were found to have been involved in criminal cases. Among them, 135 were from Nigeria, while 48 were from Bangladesh and 44 from Nepal.

The other nationalities among immigrants linked to criminal cases included Myanmar (20), Ivory Coast (13), Uganda (13), Ghana (11), Sudan (9), Ukraine (9), Iran (9), Kenya (8), Sri Lanka (7), Gambia (5), Ethiopia (5), Tanzania (4), U.S. (4), Cameroon (3), Indonesia (3), Ivory Coast/other listed nationalities (2 each) and several countries with one case each.

Source: The Hindu