Bhubaneswar: A day after authorities demolished a house that allegedly sheltered suspected Bangladeshi nationals in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district, the state police Tuesday launched coordinated raids across five districts, as part of an intensified crackdown on illegal infiltration.
The action came even as a 12-hour bandh called by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Keonjhar disrupted normal life, with demands for the immediate eviction of suspected infiltrators.
Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan said the Odisha government, following directives of the Union government, has begun identifying individuals from Bangladesh staying illegally in Odisha.
“We will take legal action and evict all those found staying illegally,” he asserted.
Police conducted the raids in Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Keonjhar and Puri districts throughout Tuesday, officials said.
In Bhadrak, 17 people were detained, while Jagatsinghpur district police arrested four persons and questioned several others after recovering weapons, including a pistol, from the house demolished Monday, they said.
In Jagatsinghpur’s Tirtol police station area, around 20 people living in rented accommodations in the Rahama locality were interrogated about their identities, the nature of their business, and their duration of stay in Odisha, according to one of those detained.
Puri SP Prateek Singh said all police stations have been instructed to maintain heightened vigilance, after reports suggested that some suspects may have fled during the Jagatsinghpur raid.
“We have asked all police stations in Puri district to identify persons suspected to be Bangladeshi infiltrators. However, till Tuesday evening, none have been identified,” Singh said.
The VHP-led bandh in Keonjhar saw shutdown of shops, markets, schools, colleges, and vehicular movement, though the day passed without any major law-and-order incidents, police said.
The bandh’s impact extended beyond Keonjhar town to Champua, Joda, Barbil, Patana, Ghasipura and Anandapur, with picketing at multiple locations leaving vehicles stranded along stretches of National Highway-20, they said.
IGP (Western Range) Brijesh Rai, who visited Keonjhar, described the bandh as peaceful and said the police remained alert to concerns over alleged infiltration.
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