Bengal slams ‘complicity’ charge over return of Tablighi members

Kolkata: The continuing battle of nerves between the Centre and the Bengal government reached another flashpoint on Thursday, this time over the state’s “complicity” in allowing the 19 Tablighi Jamaat members go back to Bangladesh via Petrapole in North 24 Parganas when the Delhi Police had issued lookout notices against them.
State home secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay strongly denied the charge, saying the state government had all along kept the MHA and MEA in the loop and tried to send these Bangladeshi nationals in a bus to Petrapole only after receiving instructions from the MEA.
Bandyopadhyay cited the letter he wrote to the MEA seeking instructions on what the state government should do with the foreign nationals when their quarantine period is over. “I wrote to the MEA requesting the external affairs ministry to decide on their case since the quarantine period is over. On May 28, the MEA instructed the state government to facilitate the return of the Bangladeshi nationals on the request of Bangladesh. There was no communication from GOI to prevent or hamstring the movement. We went ahead because there was no criminal record of these nationals in West Bengal, neither any of these Bangladeshis was COVID positive,” the state home secretary said.
Bandyopadhyay also cited the MEA letter to the state government saying that the ministry is “grateful to the state government”. The letter also stated that drivers of vehicles carrying the Bangladeshi nationals may be allowed to return to the point from where they started after dropping them.
The state home secretary stated that message via e-mail from the Foreigners’ Regional Registration office reached the Bidhannagar Police on May 30 saying that the Bangladeshi nationals shall depart from the immigration checkpost in New Delhi only. “There was no communication to the home secretary, the director general of police. I am not sure why the communication came so late,” Bandyoapadhyay said, adding that the Bangladeshi nationals have been brought back to Haj House at Rajarhat.
Bandyopadhyay denied any “covert”, “surreptitious” activity on the part of the state government on matters relating to sending back foreign nationals. “We have all along been in touch with the MHA, MEA for the last two months sharing each and every detail of the foreign nationals quarantined at Haj House under direct supervision of central agencies. We have been doing this since we received the first communication in this regard from the Ministry of Home Affairs on March 28. Every detail of the foreign nationals, including their names, contact numbers, visa details were sent to GOI as the Centre kept passing on information to us. The entire matter has been documented for the last two months,” the home secretary said.
The state government had to clarify its position because West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar told ET three days ago that the Bengal government was turning a “blind eye” to Bangladeshi Jamaat members trying to leave India through Haridaspur checkpost, also known as Petrapole, without following the due process of enquiry.
Dhankhar said he had recently received reports that 19 Tablighi Jamaatis had to be offloaded at the Bureau of Immigration at the border a few days ago, and he had flagged the matter to the state government. The group was, however, stopped and detained at the border, the governor had said. “These Bangladeshi nationals who were at quarantine centre in Madinat-ul-Hujjaj at New Town in Kolkata were being sent back to Bangladesh by bus. Upon their arrival at Haridaspur for departure for Bangladesh, it was noticed that there was a look-out notice against them. We found out that nearly 14 LOCs were initiated by DCP crime, New Delhi and five by investigating agencies in the State. DCP crime had already sent notices for the passengers to appear before office of crime branch within 7 days. That is when they were intercepted. This is a serious lapse,” Dhankhar had told ET.