Two illegal Rohingya immigrants denied bail in Jammu court 

A COURT in Jammu has denied bail to two illegal Rohingya immigrants stating they might be involved in criminal and militant activities.

Ashiqur Rahman and Abdul Gafoor were arrested in March when they were found in possession of fake documents showing Indian citizenship, during a drive to verify the legal status of Rohingya Muslims.

The court rejected their bail plea on Saturday (22) and said, “it s very strange that a large number of documents had been prepared by the accused persons to impersonate themselves as Indian citizens.”

Additional Sessions Judge, Jammu, Kishore Kumar, said, "The accused persons are involved in a very serious offence... It appears there is a well-established racket for procuring and preparing such type of documents for the accused persons and others who are in need.”

"The accused persons are in police custody and their release shall create many problems of law and order," the court said.

The court also said it cannot be ruled out that the two accused might be involved in other criminal as well as militant activities.

"Such type of persons do not deserve their (to be) release(d) as it can create law and order problem for the administration. No person can be allowed to stay in India illegally without seeking permission from the government under the law," it said.

Bank passbooks, ATM cards, an Aadhar (identification) card, car, birth certificate and Rs 140,000 cash (£ 1572.56) were recovered from Rahman while similar documents along with Rs 220,000 cash (£ 2471.17) were seized from Gafoor.

Following persecution in Myanmar, many Rohingyas entered India illegally through Bangladesh and took shelter in Jammu and other parts of the country.

As many as 220 Rohingyas were shifted to the holding centre in Kathua district after they were found to be living illegally in Jammu city during the verification drive.

According to government data, over 13,700 foreigners, including Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi nationals, are settled in Jammu and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Their population has increased by more than 6,000 between 2008 and 2016.