Jammu court denies bail to illegal Rohingya immigrants

JAMMU: A court here has denied bail to two illegal Rohingya immigrants who were arrested two months ago, saying their release shall create law and order problems.

The court also said that it cannot be ruled out that the accused persons may be involved in criminal as well as militant activities.

The accused, Ashiqur Rahman and Abdul Gafoor, who were living in Bathindi here, were arrested during a major verification drive against illegally settled Rohingya Muslims in March after they were found in possession of various documents of Indian citizenship prepared fraudulently.

Rejecting the bail application of Rahman and Gafoor on Saturday, Additional Sessions Judge, Jammu, Kishore Kumar said it is very strange that a large number of documents had been prepared by the accused persons to impersonate themselves as Indian citizens.

“The accused persons are involved in a very serious offence…It appears that there is a well-established racket for procuring and preparing such type of documents for the accused persons and others who are in need,” the court said.

“The accused persons are in police custody and their release shall create many problems of law and order,” it said.

The court also said that it cannot be ruled out that these accused persons may be involved in other crimes as well as militant activities.

“Such type of persons do not deserve their (to be) release(d) as it can create law and order problem for the administration. No person can be allowed to stay in India illegally without seeking permission from the government under the law,” it said.

According to police, bank passbooks, ATM cards, Aadhar card, car, birth certificate and Rs 1.4 lakh cash were recovered from Rahman while similar documents along with Rs 2.20 lakh cash were seized from Gafoor.

As many as 220 Rohingyas were shifted to the holding centre in Kathua district after they were found to be living illegally in Jammu city during the verification drive.

Rohingyas are a Bengali-dialect speaking Muslim minority in Myanmar.

Following persecution in their country, many of them entered India illegally through Bangladesh and took shelter in Jammu and other parts of the country.

According to government data, over 13,700 foreigners, including Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi nationals, are settled in Jammu and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Their population has increased by over 6,000 between 2008 and 2016. (PTI)