Jaipur blast may echo in Andaman as Bangladeshi influx increases

Port Blair, May 29 (UNI) The intelligence wing of remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands informed that it has become difficult for them to establish the true identity of immigrant labours, amidst allegations of influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

After the recent serial blast in Jaipur, police had confirmed that it was the handiwork of Bangladeshi terrorist outfits, a statement, which is giving the security forces in Andaman sleepless nights.

After the tsunami, thousands of labourers from West Bengal had been brought to these Islands by different contractors to carry out massive tsunami rehabilitation work but last years hundreds of jaw dropped when nearly 200 of these labourers were identified as Bangladeshis, who had illegally sneaked into India border from West Bengal Region.

''We are trying to identify individually each labourer, who comes to these islands and a verification of identity is being done on the national level, Superintendent of Police of Andaman V Ranganathan told UNI today.

The Criminal Investigating Department (CID) is helping the police department in this regard and also maintaining data of every private labourers, who are coming to these islands.

While prominent islanders fear that Bangladeshis, who are coming to these islands as labourers and are being sent in different strategically important islands for tsunami rehabilitation work may run away with sensitive information from these islands, police dismissed any such possibility.

''Till now, we have not received any such report,'' the SP said.

''Islanders of this peaceful Andaman and Nicobar Islands are now demanding proper identification of each and every labourers well before their arrival so that any future disaster could be averted,'' an islander said.

''They come here and it is onyl after a few months that their identity verification clearance comes from their native country,'' he explained and added, ''A lot can happen in these islands in the meantime.'' UNI SKR LL RN1615