By Pragynesh
Bangladeshi Immigrants In Delhi: “Where are you? Alright, get back here as soon as you can.”
At the Kalindi Kunj police station, two policemen are frantically calling colleagues. The station house officer, the inspector in-charge of the police station, wants them back at short notice for a crucial task: A team needs to be set up and sent to a residential cluster where the police suspect a number of “illegal immigrants” – all of them from Bangladesh – are living.
Led by a sub-inspector, a six-member group – including an assistant sub-inspector, two head constables and as many constables — is quickly put together. Soon two bikes, carrying two policemen each, and an SUV with another two, leaves. Their destination: Kanchan Kunj.
The exercise is part of the special drive kick-started following a directive by the Lieutenant Governor’s Secretariat to the Delhi Chief Secretary and Police Commissioner on December 10 last year to identify and take action against “illegal immigrants from Bangladesh” residing in Delhi “in the next two months”.
So far, over 58 persons have been deported on the orders of the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), the Delhi Police says. Eight have been arrested.
Situated 2 km away from the police station, Kanchan Kunj is a cluster of makeshift jhuggis, mostly with tin sheets serving as roofs. Accessible only by a narrow road, the address is cluttered with heaps of garbage of all kinds — plastic bottles, broken furniture, and out-of-shape utensils. Local residents can be seen hanging around small shops selling cigarettes or serving tea. A few others sift through the garbage looking for stuff they can later sell – the locality is home to many rag pickers. Some warm themselves in front of a small bonfire.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
