GUWAHATI, June 25 - For the first time in the country, the Assam Police is creating an exclusive database of suspected and declared foreign nationals detained for illegally entering the country.
Once the central database is created, photographs and fingerprints of the suspected or declared foreigners could be shared with various law-enforcing agencies at the click of the mouse as and when the need arises.
As part of the initiative, photographs and fingerprints of suspected foreign nationals, once detained, will be stored in a central server that would be manned by the Assam Police Border Organisation.
The idea behind creation of the database is to help security agencies tighten the noose around the suspected foreign nationals, especially Bangladeshis, who had entered the country illegally.
The new initiative of the Assam Police, according to security experts, would go a long way in nabbing the suspected Bangladeshis who tend to alter their names, addresses and appearances after being declared foreigners.
In addition, those re-entering the country even after being deported or pushed back could be traced easily.
Records say that nearly 38,000 suspected illegal migrants (till March 2016), who had entered India post-1971, are evading arrest after being declared foreigners by various foreigners� tribunals in the State.
Further, of the 27,252 infiltrators pushed back or deported till date (since 1985) from Assam, 1,432 managed to re-infiltrate into India.
Till date, the law enforcers could apprehend only around 680 illegal Bangladeshis, who had entered the State after 1971, and the number of such persons who died during the period stands at 922.
Top Assam Police sources told this reporter that the estimated cost of creating the database is around Rs 1.72 crore and the preliminary work in this regard has already begun.
�The Border Police has already been mandated to take photograph and fingerprint of any suspected foreign national it manages to detain. However, due to lack of any common database, getting the fingerprint of a suspected foreigner cross-checked was virtually impossible,� sources rued.
�With the new database, names, addresses and photos of suspected foreigners can be cross-checked and used for reference by those responsible for border management and even by the respective Superintendents of Police,� sources said.
