The intelligence division of the Odisha police has expressed serious disagreement with the claim that there are no Bangladeshi immigrants in the Jagatsinghpur area and has asked for a prompt verification of the important information.
The “lack of information” regarding the 1,112 undocumented Bangladeshi migrants who were reportedly living in the district in 2008 surprised the Special Branch. The Additional District Magistrate of Jagatsinghpur district recently stated in a letter that there were no infiltrators from Bangladesh residing illegally in the district.
On Tuesday, the special branch said that the Jagatsinghpur district government had been lying about its own 2008 report, which mentioned that there were 1112 Bangladeshi citizens resident in Jagatsinghpur.
The Home Department responded to a starred question in the State Assembly by stating that 1,112 Bangladeshi migrants were living in Jagtsinghpur based on the prior report. The special branch police has contacted the Jagatsinghpur police for clarification in light of the incident.
District of Jagatsinghpur is on the coast. The shore of Odisha used to be visited by Bangladeshi fisherman. There have been rumours that the Jagatsinghpur police had even detained Bangladeshi fishermen in the past. Similar reports of Bangladeshi immigration were made in Kendrapara and Bhadrak.
1,551 Bangladeshi nationals who were residing unlawfully in the area were issued deportation notices in 2005 by the neighbouring Kendrapara district administration. It is claimed that the Bangladeshi immigrants cleared the mangroves so they could dwell near the coast. The notification of deportation has been put on hold.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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