PATNA: Authorities in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district have moved to delete the names of two alleged Pakistani nationals from the electoral rolls and cancel their voter identity cards, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised concerns over infiltration at a rally in the state.The women, identified as Imrana Khanam alias Imrana Khatoon and Firdousia Khanam alias Firdousia Khatoon, are said to be from Rangpur village in Pakistan’s Khushab district, Punjab province, and have been living in Bhagalpur despite their visas expiring years ago.Officials said the women possessed Aadhaar and voter identity cards, but during a special revision of electoral rolls they were found to be living in India illegally on expired visas that had never been renewed.Sources said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Election Commission of India (ECI) acted after the publication of draft electoral rolls on August 1. The ECI has sought a detailed report from the Bhagalpur district administration.District magistrate-cum-district election officer Nawal Kishore Singh said an investigation was conducted, and a report from the booth-level officer (BLO) confirmed the two Pakistani citizens’ names were on the voter list.“During initial inquiry, it was confirmed that the two women were natives of Pakistan and had been staying in India illegally. The process of deleting their names from the electoral rolls and cancelling their EPIC cards has started on the basis of the BLO’s report,” Singh told reporters.The DM said a report would be sent to the ECI after the process was concluded. He added that the draft electoral roll was published on August 1 and those whose names were missing could submit forms with the required documents for correction.According to an MHA probe, Firdousia arrived in India on a three-month visa on January 19, 1956, while Imrana entered on a three-year visa. In a related case, Pakistani national Mohammad Aslam reportedly entered India on May 24, 2002, on a two-year visa and obtained an Aadhaar card, officials said.The state intelligence agency, Special Branch, has also alerted police headquarters about foreign nationals overstaying in Bihar districts and possessing Aadhaar and EPIC numbers.Districts along the India-Nepal and Bangladesh borders have been identified as the most vulnerable to infiltration.At a rally in Gaya on Friday, PM Modi claimed the growing population of illegal immigrants was a concern for the country and vowed to expel them. He said the demography of Bihar’s border areas was changing rapidly and added: “We will not allow immigrants to take away jobs meant for the people of Bihar. The demographic mission will soon start its work and throw out every illegal immigrant from the country.”
Source link
