PANAJI
With over 20 Bangladeshis allegedly staying illegally arrested over the last few days, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the police will turn the heat on house owners who leased their premises to them.
"Tenant verification was not done in any of the cases," Sawant said even as he urged Goans to ensure proper police verification is done before they rent out their premises to anyone.
Sawant who was speaking to the media at the BJP headquarters in Panaji on Sunday afternoon said, the Union home ministry has been informed of the arrests of the Bangladeshis living illegally in Goa.
Most of them were running illegal scrapyard businesses, he said, adding that the number arrested so far since the first case in Valpoi on September 15 has crossed 20.
Formalities to deport them back to Bangladesh are being carried out in tandem with the Central government, he said.
Sawant said the massive statewide exercise of tenant verification being carried out by the police will continue.
Earlier last week, North Goa Superintendent of Police Shobit Saxena had told the media that some of these Bangladeshi nationals were using fake documents, with a few living in the State for 4 to 5 years.
"Some of them have their families here," Saxena, who also heads the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Goa police said.
