100 foreign students blacklisted for overstaying

BANGALORE: More than 100 students from countries like Bangladesh, Uganda, Nigeria and Yemen, who are staying in the city illegally and involved in criminal activities, have been blacklisted by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO).Sources said that many of them are producing fake documents to educational institutions and not even attend classes but get involved in criminal activities. Many even did not register their names with the FRRO though they should register their names once they land on Indian soil within 14 days as per the Foreigners Act.“The FRRO is now taking serious action against such foreigners and this year, it has identified about 50 students, blacklisted and deported them. Last year, the FRRO had blacklisted about 50 foreigners. All of them were deported from India and as per the rules, they are barred from entering India at least for three years.Among them, there are 10 Bangladeshis and the city police are also collecting their details about their involvement in criminal activities and mainly terror activities in the country,” sources added.The serious action on such foreigners are being taken by the FRRO under the leadership of Foreigners Regional Registration Officer Soumendu Mukherjee and his junior Intelligence Officer T Nanjappa. They deal strictly with such cases and already deported 50 such students from January to June this year. The office situated near Indiranagar ESI Hospital deals with registration, extensions, return visas and processing of applications for PIO (Persons of Indian Origin) cards, an officer said.Earlier, hardly one or two foreigners were deported from the city, he said.These students mainly belong to Bangladesh, Yemen, Uganda, Nigeria, Mongolia, Sudan and other third world countries. Under different schemes of their countries, the Indian government is providing them opportunity to study here. However, some of them, once they land in Bangalore, do not go to colleges or study, but get involved in criminal activities, including drug-peddling, FICN (Fake Indian Currency Notes) fraud or Nigerian lottery frauds. Police suspect that they are, sometimes even involved in terror related cases, sources added.When contacted, Foreigners Regional Registration Officer Soumendu Mukherjee told The New Indian Express that his office will blacklist and deport foreigners if they violate laws of the land. “If they are involved in criminal activities, they are sure to be blacklisted and deported from this country,” he said.