NRC Update: Declared Foreigner Sent to Detention Camp

MORIGAON NRC UPDATE PROCESS

OUR BUREAU

GUWAHATI/MORIGAON, Aug 16: Morigaon police on Wednesday night finally arrested declared foreigner Khairul Islam from Moirabari. Morigaon Superintendent of Police Swapnanil Deka told this correspondent: “We have already received the order issued by the Gauhati High Court in this regard. Khairul Islam, a teacher of Khandapukhuri LP School was involved in the NRC work. After media reports that Khairul was involved in the NRC updating process at Kolmoubari and also that lots of anomalies took place in the update of that centre, police launched an operation to track down Khairul and arrested him from Moirabari village on Wednesday night.” Khairul was sent to the Detention Camp in Tezpur on Thursday, added Morigaon SP.

Meanwhile, the police are on the lookout for Khairul’s family members. According to the Morigaon SP, the four-member family of Islam consists of his mother and two siblings including two brothers and a sister. Both the Foreigners Tribunal and the Gauhati High Court have declared all of them as foreigners.

Proceedings against Islam have been continuing in the Foreigners Tribunal, Morigaon, since 2003. However, the fact remains that though Islam was declared a Bangladeshi national by both the Morigaon Foreigners Tribunal (FT) as well as the Gauhati High Court, he was involved in the NRC updating process carried out by the Morigaon district administration in Kolmoubari NSK under Mikirbheta Police Station in Morigaon district. Of course, the Morigaon district administration relieved Islam from NRC work after it came to know from media reports that Khairul had been declared a foreigner by Morigaon FT.

Sources informed that the Morigaon district administration had been under the presumption that Khairul was on bail obtained from the Gauhati High Court. It was made to believe that Khairul’s case {WP © 5232/2016} was sub-judice in the high court. However, of late it has come to light that the high court disposed of the case way back on June 13, 2018, when it declared Khairul as a foreigner. The newer facts regarding Khairul put the Morigaon district administration in troubled waters.

It was in Morigaon district that the names of 200 declared foreigners and doubtful voters along with their descendants had made it to the complete draft NRC. Subsequently, however, the district administration was compelled to delete all those names from the draft NRC.