Amrutha Avasarala
The Special Branch of Pune Police is in search of 325 foreign nationals who have been overstaying in India after the expiration of their visas.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (SB) A. Raja said, “We have found that 325 such foreigners are missing post-expiry of their visas and a search has been ordered. It could be that they might have left the country but all efforts have been undertaken to trace them. Our teams are physically verifying the addresses furnished by them on their arrival in the city. We have found that they were not present at the address presented to the police.”
The list of 325 foreign nationals was released by Mumbai Foreigners Registration Office(FRO). These immigrants have migrated to India mainly from Yemen, Uzbekistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Uganda, and Nigeria. Most of them have come to Pune for educational and trade purposes. The rest are said to have come for medical treatments and tourism.
According to procedures, anyone who comes to India for such purposes is required to register their address with the police and are bound to leave the country or renew the visa after expiration. Pune police have identified 325 cases where the settlers from foreign nations were not found at their registered address and have gone missing. Some of them have been illegally staying since 2016, violating immigration rules.
There could be the possibility of these untraceable settlers carrying out illegal activities or any other vicious activities. Keeping in mind its dangerous consequences, the police have launched a search drive to find these foreign nationals and deport them to their countries. Search is active in a few other cities where these immigrants are expected to have taken shelter. Information and details of these cases were extracted from the immigration bureau and sent to Mumbai, Bangalore, and Ahmedabad.
The police are approaching friends, neighbors, workplaces, and educational institutions to get more details about the individuals. Educational institution’s records are being checked if the candidates have finished their course or discontinued it halfway.
According to the Foreigners’ Act, these are to be called illegal immigrants. These people are to be searched and deported to their respective nations on a priority basis. If any of these foreign nationals are found to be indulging in illegal activities, the person is blacklisted and deported.