Around 150 Bangladeshi nationals allegedly staying illegally in Jammu and Kashmir were shifted to West Bengal on Monday as part of the deportation process, officials said.
The officials said a survey conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir administration with the help of the police found around 600 Bangladeshi nationals allegedly staying illegally across different parts of the Kashmir Valley.
150 Shifted to Bagdogra
According to officials, the identified Bangladeshi nationals were kept at a camp managed by the Srinagar Police.
A batch of 150 people was flown on a special Indian Air Force aircraft to Bagdogra in West Bengal on Monday. They were subsequently handed over to Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, who will facilitate the next stage of their deportation to Bangladesh, officials said.
Another batch of around 150 Bangladeshi nationals is expected to be deported on October 7, they added.
The development comes amid a wider exercise by the Centre to identify alleged illegal immigration in border areas.
High Level Committee on Demographic Change
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs constituted a High Level Committee on Demographic Change (HLCDC) on May 26 to examine demographic changes linked to illegal immigration and other factors.
The committee, headed by retired Justice Prakash Prabhakar Navlekar, has been asked to study demographic changes in different parts of the country, examine their causes and recommend policy, legislative and administrative measures. It has one year to submit its report.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration had informed the committee that around 600 Bangladeshi nationals had been identified across various districts of the Union Territory.
The HLCDC has also sought information from states and Union Territories on changes in religious demography over the past 15 years, particularly in districts, industrial clusters and border areas.
Officials said the committee has sought time series data showing demographic changes over the years, along with other administrative information and assessments by state governments of major demographic trends.
It has also sought data on the religious composition of tribal populations since 2011.
