Srinagar, Oct 05 (KNO): Authorities have deported around 150 Bangladeshi nationals from Jammu and Kashmir after discrepancies in their Aadhaar details raised suspicion and prompted verification of their nationality, officials said on Monday.
An official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) the deportees, who were working as labourers in Kashmir, were flown out in a special Indian Air Force aircraft and taken to Bagdogra in West Bengal, where they were handed over to the Border Security Force for repatriation,
The official said the workers were asked to produce their Aadhaar cards during a registration exercise and discrepancies in the information provided by them led authorities to conduct further verification.
Their details were subsequently shared with authorities in Bangladesh, which confirmed their nationality, following which action was initiated under provisions of the Foreigners Act, he said.
The BSF is responsible for escorting the deportees from designated transit points in West Bengal to the international border, the official added.
The action comes amid an intensified exercise by the J&K administration to identify and remove undocumented foreign nationals from the Union Territory.
It also follows a field assessment by a Centre-appointed High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes, which visited the Jammu region from August 10 to 12 as part of its examination of demographic changes and illegal immigration.
During the visit, members of the committee inspected the Rohingya settlement at Karyani Talab in Narwal and visited the Jagti Migrant Township to interact with displaced Kashmiri Pandits.
The panel had also met J&K Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, DGP Nalin Prabhat and representatives of various social and political groups to gather their views on demographic changes in the region.
The committee is headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar and was constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of a high-powered demography mission.
The committee has been collecting demographic information from states and Union Territories as part of its broader assessment.
Its exercise in Jammu and Kashmir identified 504 Bangladeshi nationals in the Union Territory, including 46 in the Jammu region and 458 in Kashmir, according to officials.
The administration has also initiated action against properties where undocumented families are alleged to have been residing and issued notices to some private landowners, officials said.
Another batch of Bangladeshi nationals is expected to be deported from J&K on October 7, they said—(KNO)