Cracking down on foreigners who were staying in the city illegally even after expiry of their visas, the city police arrested eight foreign nationals over the last 10 days. The arrested were produced before the court and sent to Mysuru Central Jail. While four of them continue to remain in judicial custody, the others secured bail.
Most of the arrested had come to Mysuru to study in different colleges. They have been identified as Abdi Wadud from Somalia, Ivan Salomao from Mozambique, Wilhelm Shalongo from Namibia, Atupele and Evance and Aidan from Tanzania, Justus from Kenya and Muhamad from Malaysia.
After cases were registered in different police stations here, the city special branch, led by inspector R.P. Ashok, took the foreign nationals into custody as their visas had expired.
The police recently held a meeting and decided to crack down on foreigners, who were staying after their visa had expired and against those staying illegally. “If they have taken a visa for admission in a college and quit the college, their stay becomes untenable. They should stay in the country only for the purpose for which the visa has been given,” said a police official.
Around 2,000 foreign nationals were in Mysuru city after securing admission in various institutions studying undergraduate, postgraduate, and even doctorate programmes. About 1,500 others were taking up yoga courses. While the foreign students studying in colleges had to comply with the norms by submitting ‘S’ forms to the jurisdictional police, the tourists had to submit ‘C’ forms. “Even though the ‘S’ forms are submitted, the educational institutions do not inform us when the students quit midway,” an official said.
When foreigners are visiting the city on a tourist visa, the city police should be informed by their hosts. In a statement, Police Commissioner A. Subramanyeswara Rao has appealed to owners of houses, apartments, boarding homes, homestays, recreational clubs, paying guest accommodation etc. to examine their passport and visas and provide details to the police mandatorily. More details can be obtained from 0821-2418537.
