Bengaluru Police Detain 105 Suspected Illegal Foreigners After Verifying Nearly 2,900 People: Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh
Bengaluru: Bengaluru City Police have detained 105 people following an operation to identify foreigners staying without valid documents, City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said on Monday, adding that nearly 2,900 people had been verified during the drive and further searches and document checks were continuing.
Responding to questions on illegal immigrants, Singh said the operation was not targeted at people from any particular country. The exercise was aimed at identifying illegal foreigners or persons who did not possess the required documents, he said.
The Commissioner said the operation had been conducted over the past two days in three parts of the city, with teams formed in the Whitefield, South-East and Electronic City divisions.
The operation involved the Joint Commissioner of Police, East, as well as the Central Crime Branch team under the Additional Commissioner of Police, CCB. A total of 48 teams were constituted to carry out checks across the three areas, Singh said.
During the verification exercise, police checked nearly 2,900 people. Based on confirmed documentary findings, 105 people were detained, according to the Commissioner.
Singh said police had collected documents in some other cases for further verification and that searches and scrutiny of records were still underway. The final figures would become clear after the ongoing verification process was completed, he said.
The Commissioner said such police operations would continue. He also addressed allegations concerning the manner in which some checks had been conducted and said the police would act against their own officers if any violation of the prescribed Standard Operating Procedure was established.
Singh said the entire exercise had been videographed and maintained that checks were being carried out by following the prescribed SOP.
He also cautioned activists and other members of the public against taking the law into their own hands by independently confronting people or creating disturbances over suspected immigration violations.
Describing such conduct as a serious issue, Singh said police would take action where individuals attempted to enforce the law themselves. He urged anyone possessing information about suspected illegal foreigners to pass it on to the police instead.
“The police are capable of carrying out this work. Give the information to the police and we will act,” Singh said, assuring the public that authorities would follow up on such inputs.
Asked about the next step for those found to be staying illegally, Singh said the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) would be informed. He said there were established guidelines for the process and those found liable would be deported in accordance with those guidelines.
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