The Maharashtra government today assured the Assembly that it will crack down on illegal migrants from Bangladesh and said care will be taken to ensure that Indian citizens from West Bengal are not harmed.
Home Minister R R Patil told the members that between 2009 and February 2013, 7,698 Bangladeshis were arrested and 3,009 were sent back to their native places.
The special cell to track illegal Bangladeshi and Pakistani citizens in Mumbai will be strengthened with more police personnel, he said adding that even though the cell is based in Mumbai, it has been authorised to conduct raids all over the state and make arrests.
Strict action would be taken against those who help the illegal migrants procure ration cards, voter cards and PAN cards, Patil said.
The presence of illegal Bangladeshi migrants was in Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and Pune belt where construction industry was booming, he said.
"Bangladeshis come as cheap labour. They come to the state after procuring relevant documents from sarpanch of any village in West Bengal. It is the duty of the contractors who hire them as well as the builders to verify these documents," he said adding that so far action has been taken against 30 contractors.
Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi, however, wondered how the employers can check the authenticity of the documents submitted to them.
Patil said the state government will request the Centre to strengthen intelligence on the Bangladesh border to ensure that there is no border crossing.
