Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Thursday announced that the State Government is planning to crack down on illegal Bangladeshi immigrants working in Karnataka. The police have taken up a survey to track them down as they pose a threat to security, he said.The Police Department has information about their presence especially in coffee plantations in Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru districts where they work as labourers.
This comes in the backdrop of the arrest of a 27-year-old woman from Bangladesh who married a delivery executive in Bengaluru. The woman, Roni Begum, went by the name of Payal Ghosh. The Byadarahalli police arrested her on Thursday based on a complaint filed by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO). She had been caught two years ago by officials in Kolkata when she attempted to fly to Dhaka, Bangladesh, to meet her family with a valid Indian passport. At the time, she was not arrested but officers alerted the FRRO in Bengaluru.
Based on the report from FRRO, the Byadarahalli police formed a special team to track her down. “She was working in a garment factory. She came to India in 2007, and settled in Bengaluru in 2015. She changed her identity and married a food delivery executive from Mumbai while she worked as a tailor at various garment factories,” said a police officer.
After the incident in Kolkata, Romi reportedly moved to Mumbai, then Mangaluru, Mysuru, and Bagalkote before returning to Bengaluru. “Investigations revealed that she obtained IDs and got a passport from Bengaluru. The police are conducting a probe to ascertain the people who helped her get identity documents,” said Sanjeev Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP-West).
Another case
In yet another case, a woman was deported from Maldives to Bengaluru. Rima Firoz Mulla, 34, had travelled to Maldives from Mumbai on a tourist visa without the required documents. “She was deported to Bengaluru as she had obtained an Indian passport from the city using fake domicile documents,” said a police officer.
Inquiries revealed that Rima was living with her daughter and parents in Kattigenahalli while her husband, Feroz Mulla, runs a mobile spare parts shop in City Market. “She lived in West Bengal, Mumbai, Maharashtra, and other parts of the country before she arrived in Bengaluru around two years ago. She used her rental agreement to get an Aadhaar card and other IDs and applied for a passport,” said a police officer, adding that they found a copy of her Bangladeshi ID with her husband.
She had multiple ID cards, said police officials who suspect that she is part of a human trafficking racket.
