Mangaluru: Suspicion about the presence of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in the coastal district has been confirmed. This was after police identified the two dead and one injured in the recent landslide at Farangipet, as being from Bangladesh. This has alerted the police department, which has decided to take steps to curb the influx of illegal immigrants to the region.
It may be recalled that terror elements had used places in DK and Udupi district as hideouts. For several years, there has been a growing suspicion of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh working in construction, fishing boats, barber shops and fast food joints.
On Tuesday, three laborers were killed in a landslide at a construction site in Farangipet. Among the three, two were identified as Bangladeshi citizens -- Maimin and Milon. The third was from West Bengal. Another Bangladeshi – Shafikulla, was injured in the incident.
The police, who suspected Shafikulla's Hindi accent, questioned him and found that he (along with the two deceased) were illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
This incident is the first proof that Bangladeshi immigrants are working as contract labourers in the district. With the help of the injured laborer, the police department is trying to investigate and stem the flow of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants into the region. Their intention is to ascertain why these people are coming here in large numbers.
Sources in the police department consider this an alarming development as it could result in a threat to national security.
“Some banned terror elements from Bangladesh could come here undetected in the guise of contract laborers and sneak into some vital installations like Kaig Atomic Station, New Mangalore Port and MRPL and carry out terror attacks. This is a dangerous development,” an officer said.
“It is a known fact that Bangladeshi immigrants are present in large numbers in the country. In recent years, they have started moving to coastal districts where they are working as contract labourers, fishing workers, barbers and fast food joint employees. They claim to be from West Bengal or Assam when they come asking for jobs. When they are asked to show identity proof, some even manage to get fake ids while others claim that they are poor and do not have any identity cards,” he added.
