Agencies / New Delhi
A letter from the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) OP Singh to all district police chiefs on identification and verification of illegal Bangladeshi migrants and “other foreigners” has led to speculation of the NRC exercise being replicated in politically significant UP after controversial implementation in Assam.
In the letter, Singh said it has come to the notice that Bangladeshis are living illegally in the state and many of them have gone missing. “In the present scenario, to strengthen the state’s internal security, it is necessary to identify and verify Bangladeshis and other foreigners residing in the state,” he said.
The letter in Hindi was released to the media by the DGP’s office on Tuesday.
The DGP wrote that places like railway stations, bus stations, new colonies and roadside locations where Bangladeshis and other foreign nationals seek shelter should be identified. The residents there should be verified and the exercise recorded on video, he instructed.
Singh further said if a resident claims to belong to any other state, the claim should be verified in a time-bound manner. “It should also be probed what documents, like ration cards, voter ID cards, driving licences and passports, they have procured to legalise their stay,” he added.
The police should then begin the process of cancellation of documents obtained by illegal migrants, the letter advised, urging action against brokers and officials who helped illegal migrants get such documents.
Singh said fingerprints of Bangladeshis and other foreigners staying illegally should be lifted and sent to the state’s fingerprints bureau, where district-wise details should be kept. Construction companies should be asked to maintain identity proof of labourers working for them, it said.