Home Minister G. Parameshwara on Tuesday told the Legislative Assembly that 283 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh were staying in different parts of the State and district-level task forces had been constituted to trace them.
Replying to BJP member V. Sunil Kumar during the question hour, the minister said Bengaluru accounted for highest number of such illegal immigrants from Bangladesh - 197 - followed by Mysuru City (25), Mandya (16), Bengaluru Urban district (14), Mysuru District (13) and Ramanagar (11). KGF (3), Shivamogga (2) and Dakshina Kannada and Chickmagaluru (one each).
In all, there were 748 Bangladesh citizens residing in the State. However, only 283 of them were illegal immigrants, he said.
They had managed to enter the country through illegal means, he said and maintained that it was mainly the responsibility of the Centre to curb the entry of such persons as it was an issue related to internal security of the country.
Of the 283 illegal immigrants, 25 were involved in various incidents of crime and cases too had been booked against them, the minister said.
The Opposition BJP members expressed dissatisfaction with the minister’s reply and argued that the number of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh residing in the State was in thousands. They urged the government to ensure that such persons do not get access to ration cards and electors photo identity cards.
