Odisha detains more than 400 on suspicion that they are Bangladeshis, Rohingya refugees
The Odisha Police has detained 444 persons in Jharsuguda for “identity verification”, suspecting them to be undocumented migrants from Bangladesh or Rohingya refugees, The Hindu reported on Wednesday.
Four others were detained in the port town of Paradip, according to the newspaper.
Later in the day, the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal claimed that among the detainees were migrants from the state working in Odisha.
The detentions are part of a statewide operation launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Odisha to identify and deport undocumented Bangladeshi migrants living in the state.
In May, the Ministry of Home Affairs set a 30-day deadline for all states and Union Territories to verify the identity and documentation of individuals suspected to be undocumented migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar. Those failing to produce valid documents would be liable for deportation.
The ministry also instructed states to invoke their statutory powers to detect, detain and deport illegal immigrants.
On Wednesday, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP and Chairman of West Bengal’s Migrant Welfare Board Samirul Islam claimed that more than 200 migrant workers from the state had been detained in Jharsuguda “on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals”.
“This is a fresh round of detentions by the BJP-ruled Odisha government, following the earlier confinement of hundreds of migrant workers from Bengal,” Islam claimed in a...
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