BJP workers in Bengaluru launch drive to identify illegal Bangladeshi immigrants | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: Arguing that Bengaluru’s Mahadevapura alone has more than 25,000 undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh who are stealing employment opportunities of the local youth, the area’s BJP unit has announced the launch of a survey from Sunday to identify and send illegal immigrants back to their home country.The drive is led by Mahadevapura Task Force, a volunteer-driven group headlined by former minister Aravind Limbavali, whose wife Manjula is BJP MLA from the constituency.Aravind, in a video message, has appealed to Mahadevapura residents to join the campaign against the infiltrators. “Our war room is actively receiving information about several such individuals (illegal immigrants). My appeal: If you find such individuals, please inform us.”He said the govt will take strict action and send such illegal immigrants back to Bangladesh.H Lokesh of Congress who lost the Mahadevapura assembly polls in 2023 slammed BJP for the drive, saying its workers are creating unnecessary panic. “During elections, they facilitated creation of fake voter identity cards. In the 2023 elections, after our complaint to the Election Commission, we identified over 9,000 fake votes and got them deleted, with an estimated total of over 40,000. It’s ironic they are now targeting their own vote bank,” he said.The BJP task force claims illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are found in large numbers in Munnekollala, Kodthi, Balagere, Thubarahalli, Kadugodi, Pattandur Agrahara and a few other northern parts of Mahadevapura. Most of these undocumented workers do housekeeping job in companies and apartments, or as delivery boys and garbage collectors.Residents of the area wondered if the crackdown would adversely impact the availability of trash collectors, maids and security guards in the coming months. A resident said BJP workers were building a new narrative to shift the focus away from near-collapse of civic infrastructure in the famed tech corridor.The BJP team claimed immigrants cross over to India with help from agents and obtain counterfeit identification documents such as Aadhaar cards, birth certificates, and voter IDs. They often occupy vacant lands, with agents allegedly renting these lands from landlords and subletting them to the migrants for shelter.Manohar Reddy, a member of the team conducting surprise checks, told TOI they have identified about 1,000 illegal immigrants so far. The team began its groundwork a fortnight ago, examining Aadhaar and other identification documents.“Split into five teams, we visited several of immigrant colonies on Thursday. Many men were not at home — likely aware of our visit — while some admitted to being from Bangladesh, having arrived through agents. Although they possess Aadhaar and other identification documents, they seem to be fake,” Reddy claimed.“When questioned, they claim to be from West Bengal. Some speak Bengali. However, a key indicator is the phone numbers they frequently dial have a +880 prefix, which is the country code of Bangladesh,” Reddy said.