Home Minister G Parameshwara (L) and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Twenty-five illegal immigrants from Pakistan have been identified, arrested and imprisoned in Karnataka, Home Minister G Parameshwara told the Assembly on Wednesday.
A total of 137 illegal immigrants from various countries, including Bangladesh, have been identified and arrested, Parameshwara said.
The minister was responding to a motion by BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal calling for the government’s attention to illegal immigrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh.
“When illegal immigrants are identified, we inform the respective embassies and consulates. Until they’re deported, the illegal immigrants are kept at a foreigners’ detention centre,” Parameshwara said.
Of the 137 illegal immigrants apprehended so far, 84 were in Bengaluru Urban, 27 in Bengaluru Rural, 12 in Shivamogga, 10 in Udupi, three in Hassan and one in Mangaluru.
Thousands of Bangladeshis have come into Karnataka, Parameshwara said. “They start working in coffee estates in Hassan, Sakleshpur, Chikmagalur and Kodagu. They live privately in those estates and don’t get identified. They end up getting ration cards and even voter cards. That’s how their network is,” he said.
Thousands of foreigners come to Bengaluru, and many of them enter the city illegally. He cited the example of African nationals who indulge in drug peddling. “There’s a big racket,” he said.
Parameshwara said there are no illegal Pakistani or Bangladeshi immigrants in Vijayapura, the district Yatnal represents. “In 2016, 33 Bangladeshis were found, arrested and sent back,” he said.
Yatnal urged the government to double down on identifying illegal immigrants. “Rohingyas and Bangladeshis are a big threat to India,” he said. “Karnataka shouldn’t become another West Bengal,” he said, describing Rohingyas as “the most cruel community”.
Yatnal demanded a National Investigation Authority (NIA) unit in Vijayapura, to which Parameshwara pointed towards the Union government. “We normally don’t send proposals to the Union government seeking NIA units. The Union government decides the locations,” he said.