Balurghat, Nov. 15: The immigration department and police are worried as nearly 7,000 Bangladeshis who had entered India through the international checkpost at Hili, 26 km from here, between January 2000 and August 2004, have not gone back.
According to officials, 1,04,924 Bangladeshis with valid passports had checked in through this point during the period. Among them, 59,888 were Hindus and 45,036 Muslims. But only 98,052 people, 57,039 Hindus and 41,013 Muslims, returned to Bangladesh. Of the remaining who have stayed back, 2,849 are Hindus and 4,023 Muslims.
The Bangla nationals who come to India for treatment or to visit relatives have valid documents. But some of them overstay, admitted a senior immigration official.
Deputy inspector-general of police, Malda range, Nanda Kumar Biswas said: ?We can only issue look-out notices against a person whose travel document has expired, and send it to the home department. The Centre then alerts the checkposts to prevent him from fleeing the country.?
The government can push a person back if he is found overstaying. But if someone manages to hide his identity, the immigration department and the police have almost nothing to do.
Officials admit that the number of persons who sneak into India from Bangladesh without proper documents and overstay is much higher than those who enter with valid visas and passports, but stay on after the expiry of their validity.
According to officials, 2,800 people had been caught by the BSF and the police while sneaking into the country between January 1999 and August 2004.
Many of them get political shelters making it all the more difficult for the administration. Officials said instances are rare when a Bangladeshi was caught after the ?look-out? was issued.
But there are ?unlucky? people like Mohammed Hanif. A resident of Rangpur district in Bangladesh, he had entered India through Hili with a valid passport on June 7 this year. But Hanif continued to live here even after his visa expired. On July 14, he was noticed by the officer-in-charge of Hili checkpost.
Hanif is now in Balurghat jail.
