Kendrapara/Mahakalapara: Infiltration by Bangladeshi immigrants into Kendrapara district through the sea route continues unabated due to lack of sincere and tough measures by the district administration and the state government, a report said.
As a result, the district is fast turning into a safe haven for Bangladeshi criminals engaged in illegal marine, wild life and cattle trade as well as human trafficking.
Reports said the district has a 48 km long coastline which has proved favourable for the immigrants to get into the district.
The coast guard regularly patrols the coastlines to prevent infiltration while three marine police stations Jambu, Talachua and Tantiapala and police stations in Rajnagar and Mahakalapara are also keeping a watch on the coastal security.
However, all these have failed to check the infiltration as the Bangladeshi immigrants continue to enter the district by the sea route. The immigrants find the sea route safer to come to Kendrapara as it takes only 8-10 hours to reach the district.
Moreover, absence of road connectivity makes the immigrants all the more dependent on the sea to travel to the district.
Reports said that the Bangladeshi immigrants after their arrival forcibly occupy the forest land to settle down and acquire various documents as proof to identify themselves as local residents.
Once in, they engage in illegal marine, wildlife, cattle trade, drug and human trafficking to boost their incomes. The Mahakalapara block in the district which is fast turning into a safe haven for the Bangladeshi criminals is a case in this point.
A majority portion of the area is covered in forests and a lack of road connectivity has come in handy for the Bangladeshis to make the place their home and carry out their criminal activities with impunity.
Even Babubali, Agarnasi, Sholamuhan, Madali, Lunchghola islands in the prohibited zones of Gahirmatha marine sanctuary are used to carry out subversive activities by these immigrants.
Residents Sunil Kumar Gantayat, Pratap Kumar Tripathy and Arabinda Rout said the large scale infiltration of Bangladeshi is harmful for the district as well as for national security.
They alleged even as Covid restrictions are in force, hundreds of women and girls have been reported missing from Mahakalapara and Rajnagar blocks.
Missing cases have been filed in all five police stations of these two blocks but police are not conducting probe into these cases claiming them as elopements. However, these cases have been later found to be human and labour trafficking.
Moreover, encroachment is on rise in Bhitarkanika National Park spread over 682 sq.km near the sea coast and on the forest lands in Mahakalapara due to lack of regular verification by the district administration and the concerned departments.
The immigrants after settling down construct illegal prawn gheries which has become a menace to flora and fauna of the sanctuary as well as for the farmland. The illegal occupation of the land has often given rise to a law and order problem.
The busting of a fake radio station at Banipal in 2001 and the murder of a forest guard Shyam Singh in 2002 are indicative of the intensity of the problem. However, lack of patrolling boats and staff in three marine police stations has failed to check the influx of Bangladeshi immigrants into the district.
A policeman on the condition of anonymity said that each police station is required to have 81 employees and high speed boats to carry out patrolling in the sea which is lacking.
When contacted, SP Madkar Sandeep Sampad said attempts are on to strengthen the manpower and infrastructure of the three marine police stations.
PNN