BJP MLC Seeks Biometric Tracking of Illegal Immigrants Using Trains to Bengaluru
The connectivity between West Bengal and Bengaluru via 17 train services is increasingly exploited for illegal immigration, with Narayanswamy emphasizing the need for improved security measures to prevent unauthorized entries.
Bengaluru: Since, the sheer volume of passengers makes it difficult for the Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and Government Railway Police (GRP) to conduct a thorough background checks on passengers during transit from West Bengal to Bengaluru city, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLC and Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanswamy felt the need to implement a specialized verification drive at major boarding and deboarding points at Howrah, Malda Town, Kharagpur and Bengaluru terminals involving “bio-metric cross referencing.”
The MLC, in a letter to Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw and also to Union Minister of State for Railways V. Somanna, pointed that Bengaluru has become a major hub for labour colonies where illegal settlers are reportedly residing under the guise of being migrants from West Bengal and North-East and to substantiate the presence of numerous individuals residing in Bengaluru with forged documents have been identified by recent police crackdowns.
As many as 17 weekly and daily train services including the Howrah-Sealdah to Yeshwanthpur/Sir M. Visvesvaraya terminal routes connect West Bengal with Bengaluru and there are growing evidence that the train routes are being exploited for the unchecked movement of illegal immigrants particularly originating from across the international border (Bangladesh).
The security gaps such as background checks of each passenger during transit has been difficult, Narayanswamy stated “A green corridor has been created for unauthorized entry into the South States of the country.”
Narayanswamy wanted V. Somanna to deploy undercover RPF and Intelligence Bureau personnel on trains plying from West Bengal to Bengaluru to monitor and identify suspicious movement patterns.
He told the Union Minister to treat immigrants sneaking into Bengaluru especially as a high-priority national security and initiate steps to monitor these transit routes.
