KOCHI: City has been becoming a home to lot of people from various parts of the country. But the presence of many Maldivians
in the city has forced the Special Branch to conduct a thorough
checking of the various pockets in the city where Maldivians have been
found camping.
Though the city police have not come across any incidents of smuggling or anti-national activities involving Maldivians, they have launched the drive as part of a precautionary measure.
"We don't know why there has been a surge in the arrival of people from Maldives to the city.
The special branch wing has been able to identify an area near
Karugapilly in the city where large number of Maldivians has been
staying," said M N Ramesh, city special branch assistant commissioner.
The official said the police had conducted a preliminary enquiry to
identify the reasons for the rise in arrival of Maldivians and it had
been ascertained that these people were gradually moving out of
Thiruvananthapuram,where they usually camp, due to various reasons.
Ramesh said that most of Maldivians staying in the city have been
making use of a loop hole in the visa rules to stay permanently in the
city.
"According to the rules, people from Maldives can stay
in India continuously for 90 days without visa. What they usually do is
to leave India on the 89th day and return the next day.
They
keep on doing this to stay permanently in India," the official
said."Most of them come to Kochi for business purpose. We intercepted a
couple of Maldivians on suspicion and found that they were carrying
large quantity of spare parts of various vehicles.
They brought the spare parts from various shops in Kochi," said the sources in the state police.
The sources added that they would be coordinating with the immigration
wing of airports in the state, mainly Thiruvananthapuram, to ascertain
the exact number of Maldivians landing in the state.
