The state police in Odisha launched coordinated raids across five districts on Tuesday, intensifying a crackdown on illegal infiltration a day after authorities demolished a house in Jagatsinghpur district allegedly sheltering suspected Bangladeshi nationals.
This action came even as a 12-hour bandh called by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Keonjhar disrupted normal life with demands for the immediate eviction of suspected infiltrators.
Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan said that the Odisha government, following Union government directives, has begun identifying and will take legal action to evict all those found staying illegally in the state.
“We will take legal action and evict all those found staying illegally,” the minister asserted.
Police raids were conducted in Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Keonjhar, and Puri districts on Tuesday. In Bhadrak, 17 people were detained, while Jagatsinghpur police arrested four persons and questioned others after recovering weapons, including a pistol, from the demolished house.
In Jagatsinghpur’s Tirtol area, around 20 people living in rented accommodations in the Rahama locality were interrogated regarding their identities, the nature of their business, and their duration of stay in Odisha, according to one of those detained.
Puri SP Prateek Singh instructed all police stations to maintain heightened vigilance against potential infiltrators who may have fled Jagatsinghpur, though none had been identified in Puri by Tuesday evening.
“We have asked all police stations in Puri district to identify persons suspected to be Bangladeshi infiltrators. However, till Tuesday evening, none have been identified,” Singh said.
The VHP-led bandh in Keonjhar saw the shutdown of shops, schools, and vehicular traffic, though the day passed without any major law-and-order incidents, police said.
The bandh impacted areas from Keonjhar town to Champua, Joda, Barbil, Patana, Ghasipura and Anandapur, with picketing at multiple locations leaving vehicles stranded along stretches of National Highway-20, they said.
IGP (Western Range) Brijesh Rai, who visited Keonjhar, described the bandh as peaceful and said the police remained alert to concerns over alleged infiltration.
