Home Minister Araga Jnanendra assured the Legislative Council on Monday that a list of foreigners overstaying in Bengaluru would be made available within a month, and that more detention centres to house them are being discussed.
"As much as possible, I will direct each police station to come up with a list of foreigners who are illegally overstaying in the city," he said to a question raised by BJP member Y.A. Narayanswamy. He also said that as the current detention centre has reached full capacity, he would be speaking to the Chief Minister to sanction three to four more centres to keep foreign nationals. "After detention centre has run out of capacity, we do not know where to house the women detainees," he said.
Stating that the Government is making respective police station heads responsible in identifying those overstaying, he said that at the end of December, 672 foreign nationals were overstaying in Bengaluru of whom cases are pending against 441. "Foreigners intending to overstay are deliberately getting involved in petty cases and coming out on bail. We cannot report them unless the cases are completed in the court."
"To deter people from indulging in drug peddling, Karnataka has for the first time invoked the stringent PIT NDPS Act against five persons," he said. Regarding Bangladeshi nationals, he said that the West Bengal Government has to be more cooperative in deportation.
