The intelligence wing of Odisha police has taken strong exception to the information of Jagatsinghpur district being free of Bangladesh migrants and sought a quick verification on the crucial piece of information.
The Special Branch expressed surprise over ‘lack of information’ on 1,112 undocumented Bangladeshi migrants who were reported to be staying in district in 2008. In recent letter, Additional District Magistrate of Jagatsinghpur district had indicated that no Bangladeshi infiltrator was staying illegally in the district.
The special branch on Tuesday reported that the Jagatsinghpur district administration was contradicting its own 2008 report in which it was mentioned about 1112 Bangladeshi nationals residing in Jagatsinghpur.
Based on the previous report, the Home Department had supplied a reply in response to a starred question in the State Assembly that there were 1,112 Bangladeshi migrants in Jagtsinghpur. The slipup of this nature has prompted the special branch police to seek clarification from the Jagatsinghpur police.
Jagatsinghpur is a coastal district. Bangladeshi fishermen used to stray into Odisha coast. In the past, it was reported that Bangladeshi fishermen were even arrested by Jagatsinghpur police. Similarly, Kendrapara and Bhadrak too reported presence of Bangladesh migrants.
In 2005, neighbouring Kendrapara district administration had slapped deportation notice on 1,551 Bangladeshi nationals illegally staying in the district. It is alleged the Bangladesh migrants had cleared mangrove vegetation to settle down along the coast. The deportation notice has been kept in the abeyance.
