Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Jul 12: Following the arrest of eight Bangladeshi nationals who were working at a construction site in Mukka near Surathkal, the police have intensified their investigation. The arrested individuals are currently being interrogated at a temporary detention centre set up inside a private hospital in Mukka.
Acting on credible information, the Surathkal police had arrested the eight individuals on July 9. Investigations revealed that all the arrested men hail from the Rajshahi district of Bangladesh.
Officials are currently probing whether any other individuals who crossed the border along with the accused are residing or working in the undivided Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. Teams from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the State Intelligence Department have already gathered crucial inputs from the accused. A formal report has been submitted to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), and procedures have been initiated to deport the illegal immigrants within 15 days.
Tip-off from co-workers
The breakthrough came after the police rounded up 55 laborers working under two different construction firms for verification based on specific inputs. During the verification process, these eight Bangladeshi nationals were identified. Interestingly, it was their fellow co-workers who initially noticed discrepancies and brought the matter to the notice of the police, who had been closely monitoring the site for the past month.
Sources state that due to ongoing crackdowns against illegal immigrants in West Bengal, many individuals who were unable to return to Bangladesh have moved to various other states through networks of agents.
The incident has also highlighted severe negligence on the part of construction firms, who employ undocumented workers for cheap labor, paying them Rs 500 to Rs 600 per day. These laborers work from dawn to dusk and reside in makeshift sheds on-site, making it difficult for outsiders to notice them. This practice has raised significant security concerns in the region.
Public demand for verification drive
Back in 2022, the city police commissionerate had conducted a massive drive to collect details of migrant laborers from various North Indian states across all police station limits. Over 4,000 workers were verified, out of whom 518 suspects were subjected to intense questioning, though no Bangladeshi nationals were found at the time. No large-scale verification drive has taken place since 2022. The general public has now urged the authorities to urgently launch comprehensive verification drives for construction workers, industrial laborers, and workers at the fisheries bunder across all police station limits.
Fake Aadhaar cards exposed via biometric scans
The illegal stay of the accused came to light when the police verified their Aadhaar cards using biometric thumb impressions, which confirmed the documents were forged. The accused had taken color photocopies of genuine Aadhaar cards belonging to individuals from West Bengal, superimposed their own photos onto them, and laminated the forged documents. During the digital verification, the photos stored in the database did not match the photos printed on the physical cards. Their broken Hindi and distinct Bengali dialect further confirmed their Bangladeshi nationality.
The investigation revealed that the accused crossed the international border from various parts of Rajshahi district to reach Murshidabad in West Bengal. With the help of local agents there, they procured the forged color copies of Aadhaar cards. Information regarding the network has already been shared with the Border Security Force (BSF) and the local police stations concerned in West Bengal.