Kendrapara: Porous coastal borders and lack of vigil have allegedly been contributing to rising illegal intrusion from Bangladesh into Kendrapara district. Locals alleged that neither the district administration nor the state government has taken a serious note of it. Reports said 48-km long coastline of the district is still vulnerable to intrusion of Bangladeshi immigrants for lack of vigil. The threat potential to the coastal parts increased particularly after the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai.
Soon after the Mumbai terror attack, the Union Home Ministry had issued a directive to the state governments to identify all illegal settlers in coastal pockets and keep strict vigil on the coastlines. The arrest of suspected terrorist Habibur Rehman, a resident of Tendakuda under Patkura police limits, by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2018 has proved the presence of terrorist activities in state. In 2007, security forces had arrested Mohammed Javed on Indo-Pak borders in Rajasthan. Javed is a resident of Ranapada under Kendrapara Sadar town police station.
In 2010, the Rajasthan police had come to Kendrapara in search of Javed. Earlier, detection of an illegal radio station in Bhitarkanika area had created flutters. People of various areas alleged that residents of Bangladesh are sneaking into their areas and settling over there, which are going unnoticed by the administration. The district administration had seized VISA and other documents of Amit Ray, a resident of Bangladesh, in 2018.
However, despite intermittent actions of the district administration, the number of illegal settlers is gradually rising in coastal areas. Ramesh Chandra Sutar, a local, said the district administration had identified 1,551 Bangladeshi immigrants in the district in 2005. Despite protests from locals and allegations, these immigrants have not been repatriated till date. There are three marine police stations in the district. But they are all illequipped with staff and infrastructure. In such situation, it is not possible for the marine police to keep strict vigil along the territorial waters.
Over years, number of Bengali speaking people has exponentially increased and even surpassed the local population in many areas, it was alleged. Bangladeshis are said to be entering the district through sea, Kolkata routes and Malkangiri. These illegal settlers have been grabbing all kinds of government facilities and even obtaining domicile certificates.
Many of them have been shown as landless and provided land under Basundhara Yojana. Social activist Pratap Kumar Padhu said that it is high time Bangladeshis were identified and repatriated. “It is not impossible for these illegal settlers to run anti-national agenda from this soil,” he observed. Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Rajivlochan Panda said, “Marine police stations are undergoing infrastructural overhaul. The staff crunch in police stations will be sorted out soon.”
