The border wing of the Assam police has formed a five-member panel for taking “immediate and proactive steps to identify the intermediaries, facilitators, collaborators” of “illegal migrants from across the international border into Assam and initiate legal action to bring them to justice.
Comprising police officers, the committee is headed by Subhrajyoti Borah, commandant of the 7th Assam Police Battalion based in western Assam’s Kokrajhar district.
Mukesh Agrawal, Special DGP (Border), confirmed the setting up of the panel after a meeting with Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua on January 11.
An order issued on the panel said the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Border), the SPs (Border), SP, Railway Police (Border) and other officials concerned would take legal action in their respective jurisdictions according to the recommendation of the five-member committee.
“They would also render necessary assistance to the committee in performing its task including utilisation of Border staff of the districts as and when required by the committee,” the order said.
The DIG (Ranges) would supervise the progress of the work of the panel as would the Commissioner of Police for Guwahati and the IGP for the Bodoland Territorial Region.
“Identifying illegal migrants as well as people who help them enter India illegally has been part of our job. The only thing new is that a panel has been formed for this,” a Border police officer said.
Poll staple
But the constitution of the panel has assumed significance with the Assam Assembly elections barely four months away. The issue of illegal migrants, or “Bangladeshis”, has been a poll staple for most political parties.
The Assam Police Border Organisation was formed in 1962 under the Prevention of Infiltration of Pakistani scheme. A part of the State police’s Special Branch then, it began functioning independently in 1974.
At present, it is manned by 4,037 personnel of different ranks — 3,153 sanctioned by the Centre under the Prevention of Infiltration of Foreigners scheme (name was changed after Bangladesh was born) and 884 sanctioned by the State government.
