‘Why spend taxpayers’ money on infiltrators?’ Suvendu Adhikari defends Bengal holding centres for illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas

JALANGI/BARUIPUR/PALASHIPARA: A day after holding centres for illegal foreigners, including Bangladeshis and Rohingya immigrants, debuted in Murshidabad and Malda, seven more suspected Bangladeshi detainees were sent to the former on Tuesday, taking the total number of inmates at Murshidabad centres to 10.

Late on Monday, police spotted several suspected individuals in the Gopalpur area under Jalangi PS. Following interrogation, the individuals confessed to being Bangladeshi nationals.

Following mandatory health check-ups at Domkal hospital, the detainees were moved to the newly designated holding centre at Lalgola.

Authorities have significantly tightened security at the centre, located on the second floor of the Padma Bhawan fishery society building. Surveillance has been doubled during the night shift, with police officers and civic volunteers maintaining a continuous watch alongside newly installed CCTV cameras monitoring every floor and perimeter.

Speaking to reporters on this, CM Suvendu Adhikari said: "Why will we spend hard-earned taxpayers' money on maintaining and feeding illegal infiltrators at correctional homes? We are not introducing any new law. What we are doing is as per legal provisions which have been there for a long time. The only difference is that the existing law was not enforced by previous regimes. We are just enforcing those legal provisions in the interest of the country and the state."

Referring to the Foreigners Act, Adhikari stressed that the responsibility for repatriation rested internationally. "These people must leave. I remember their (Dhaka's) spokesperson saying they will take back their citizens; I have seen it on social media and YouTube. We have already instructed police not to send them to jail."

Meanwhile, in South 24 Parganas, Baruipur cops detained a 39-year-old Bangladeshi woman, identified as Lakin Tati, from Mallikpur. Investigators said she was living illegally in a rented house at Beniyadanga for nearly five years, while her husband, Ziarur Rahman Tati, remains in Jessore.

Police recovered a state-owned bank passbook and an Indian Aadhaar card from her possession.

In Nadia, Palashipara Police arrested a Bangladeshi national identified as Mohammad Tahidul Islam, originally from Meherpur, Bangladesh. Investigators revealed that Tahidul crossed the border illegally and was residing in Baruipara under the name ‘Suman Sheikh' using forged papers.